


Brisket

by Purple_Tuesday



Category: Dream Daddy: A Dad Dating Simulator
Genre: Age Difference, Gay Male Character, Gay bear - Freeform, M/M, Reader is not Dadsona, Reader-Insert, Size Difference
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-26
Updated: 2018-11-16
Packaged: 2019-01-23 06:41:14
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 50,345
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12501176
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Purple_Tuesday/pseuds/Purple_Tuesday
Summary: You're fresh out of university and you moved into the town of Maple Bay a few weeks ago, and through this time you have fancied the red-haired man that lives in the col-der-sac. This is the story of you, the reader, moving into Maple Bay.





	1. Rum

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for clicking on my first ever fan-fiction! I hope it doesn't disappoint anyone and I hope everyone enjoys it as much as I have enjoyed writing it so far! I'm not the most descriptive person ever, but I hope I'll be able to do it more as time goes on.
> 
> I hope everyone enjoys it, once again, and thanks for reading!
> 
> -Purple Tuesday

It has been a few weeks since you moved to Maple Bay. After graduating a fairly decent university, you chose to move away from your parents home, no matter how much they pleaded you to stay, you couldn't live there any longer. Ever since you left for the university you had gotten on better with your family, but that only meant when you got home during the holidays you could only stand each other for so long.

You had met a few men around the cul-de-sac, they all peaked your interest, all but one is single, all with kids. Some living with them, some kids had grown up and moved out just like you. 

You had heard rumours from other dads about a father that lived here before you moved in. His daughter had gone to an art college and after a few months the father ended up moving away. Apparently, he followed her after a few months to keep a close eye on her. He rarely left his home and because of this, he got lonely. When he would leave his home he would be found with dark circles under his eyes from lack of sleep.

Of course, you didn't move into the same home that was left, you moved and started to live in a small bungalow a few houses away from the centre of the cul-de-sac. As much as you wanted to see the dads there, you had no reason to head in that direction, as it would look odd and weird, so you would people watch sometimes from your window.

There was a specific man that you had a small thing for, you would feel tingles in your lower abdomen when you would speak to them, whether you ran into them at the park with their dog and daughter or at the shopping district when you both were doing food shopping. He was tall and broad, with short scruffy red hair and a large shaggy beard that would cover his mouth. You could ever so slightly see their lips underneath if you looked hard enough.

They would wear similar, if not, the same attire as always, an unkempt, unbuttoned green Hawaiian shirt that would drape down their side with a white tank top that would hug the figure that the Hawaiian shirt couldn't do.

Something about him would light a fire in your stomach, you found them physically attractive, and they were always beaming with energy which was always contagious. 

However, he would always be trying to one-up you. You've had to deal with these types of people in university and having to deal with it in a place that you just moved to made you not want to do anything. Hearing people try to make their life sound better and more interesting than yours made everything so much worse as you never thought that highly of yourself, and you're having people proving that they're better than you. It just made you feel terrible. 

You've thought about wanting to tell them how it's been making you feel but you didn't want to start any unnecessary conflict. You've dealt with this for three years at university already, what could another 20 years or so hurt, right?

A sound went off. It was your phone. A message appeared from an app "DadBook", and it was from him. Brian. 

"Hey there, buddy! I haven't seen you around and the others are worried about you! I'm making brisket tonight, you should come over! Even Daisy is worried about you! -Brian"

You feel strange. You question if you're even worthy enough to even go see him. A better question is, though - what do you reply with?

Your fingers hover over the keyboard of your phone, still processing what to write. The messenger says he is still online, which means he's probably waiting for a reply. The thought of this made you anxious, you didn't want to keep him on read and make it seem like you don't care. You would type out sentences only to delete the message and start over again. You swallowed your anxiety and struggles, took a deep breath and mashed the keyboard, what felt like you were pummelling the screen with random jumbled letters and word combinations, but suddenly formed a structures sentence.

"Hey, Brian! I would love to come over tonight, what's the dress code? What drinks do you like that I could bring over? I look forward to trying your brisket! Hahahaha"

There was no going back from the 'haha', your phone autocorrected it the moment you pressed send and it made you sound like a sociopath. You could feel cold sweat seeping from behind your ears and rolling down your jawline. You were never an extrovert, but you weren't an introvert either. However, for some reason, this man is making you go crazy, and you struggle as to comprehend why you can't talk to him like a normal person. You find him attractive and you've talked to him a few times, but is that the only reason why you feel so on edge.

"Heyyy man! Was starting to worry I scared you off! No dress code needed, just as long as you show up. I'm more of a cocktail and beer guy myself, I have all that covered, though, my fridge is big enough.

See you around 7, that alright?

-Brian"

Does Brian not understand the amount of Y's you should use for the word 'hey'? Three Y's goes under 'take the hint', it's dangerous using this for someone who spends the majority of their life on the internet.

"7 sounds fine to me, I'll meet you at your place, then!"

He told you not to, but you feel rude if you didn't, but what cocktails or beers would he like? You would normally bring some decent wine to your friend's house to thank their parents for having you over, your parents raised you to thank others like that, but what specific beers would he like? What about the mix of alcohol? 

You decide to look through your cupboards for some spare spirits, you find some coconut rum and some Irish cream liquor. You check the coconut rum, but it already has a few shots left, being a student not too long ago your instincts kick in and you feel like you have to finish it off, and so you drink it straight from the bottle. It's been a while since you've had some alcohol in you, so you feel a light wave throughout your body, but then you realise, you haven't had anything to eat all day, and that's the main thing your parents would always tell you, is to have something to eat before you drink. This causes you to panic a bit, which doesn't help you get a little bit tipsier. You're shocked how much of a lightweight you have become, you've taken about 6 shots from the bottle and it's gotten you this wasted.

You check your phone, feeling a light buzz in your head, you crack a smile and then you begin laughing. This situation is hilarious. Your phone glows '15:08', you have 4 hours to get sober and to get the drink and then make your way to Brian. The first thought was to get the drink first, but of course, you can't drive. You're tipsy, not stupid.

You grab your keys, phone and your wallet and you make your way to the shops. You plan to go to a decent sized store where they would have a good amount of alcohol to choose from, it didn't take long but you managed to get to the one most of the dads were familiar with and you make your way inside. Shortly after, you bought the same brand of coconut rum and tried to convince yourself not to buy more alcohol, you tried to make yourself as nonchalant as possible, but it came off as you looking a little suspicious, but you managed to get the goods and you began to head your way towards the exit.

"Hey! (Y/N), I didn't know you'd be here! What a surprise!" a familiar voice shouted to you, you turned around quickly in shock and obviously it was Brian.

"Oh, Brian! What a surprise to see you here!", what a coincidence that you would run into him at the same store at the same time, you begin to sweat and your heart begins to race, he should not find out that you've consumed alcohol, you tell yourself, "What brings you here?"

"I was silly, I forgot I didn't have any brisket, so I came down to get some, and then I got into buying some shopping for the week," he beamed, it was kind of attractive, and it made you blush a bit, "what're you doing here?"

You both make your way out to the parking lot and towards Brian's car, "I was just browsing, and I... er... got you something for inviting me over", you pick up the bottle from inside the bag to show it to him.

"Hey, buddy, you seriously didn't have to get me anything! It's a nice gesture and all, but I feel awful taking things from you," he lays his bags down into the boot of his vehicle and he scratches his neck in bashfulness, "how did you get here, anyway?"

"I walked", more like you stumbled, but by this point, you were starting to feel soberer and Brian wasn't an attractive blur anymore, he was just attractive. 

"Well, would you like me to drive you back to my place? Since you're here and all, it'd be silly to drop you off home if I was going to see you later, that's if you're not busy", he gives an alluring smile, how could you say no to that face?

"I'm not busy at all, thank you for inviting me over", Brian opens the door for you and you slide on in, the moment he closes the door, you can feel the silence get to you and time begins to stretch a bit.

You can feel pulsing in your ears as if you were at a loud drinking party and the moment you slipped to go to the bathroom, everything is silent and your drunken body is just sat swaying. You giggle to yourself quietly until Brian opens up his side of the door, and his weight shifts onto the driver's seat, the car rocking side to side softly. You can see his hefty build from the corner of your eye and he's flexing over to grab his seatbelt - realising this, you do the same, and you stretch it over yourself.

As you plug the buckle in, both of your hands brush against each other, his dorsum is warm and lightly hairy, and the silence of the car apart from his breathing, grunting and humming makes it more exciting for you. He watched you pull away quickly from his hand out of embarrassment and he smiles at you and gives a little chuckle. 

He places a hand on your thigh and smiles as you quickly look at him, you both lock eye contact, "We'll be back at my place shortly, man,", and then he slowly pulls away onto the steering wheel, starting the engine, and he pulls the car away. 

You're left in the seat feeling strange, warm and tingly. You glance from the corner of your eye to see the man next to you, keeping focused on the road, strong arms, large build and looking powerful in general. Maybe you do have a little alcohol left in you, after all, he looks like he's glowing, and you're spending an evening with him, which makes it more exciting. You crossed your legs tightly to try and control the adrenaline running through your body, you feel like you're supposed to be cold from the way you're shivering, but you can't seem to make it stop. You're scared that Brian will notice and say something, but at the same time, you don't want this car ride to end.


	2. Beverage of a Clear Liquid

The car pulls up to the front of Brian's home, and you start to feel your stomach doing somersaults. You were sobering up and all that was left was the adrenaline of being with this man. Not just that, but having to communicate with his daughter. 

You weren't good with children, especially if they were smarter than you were, but you had a casual conversation with her once, and she was very sweet. She was better than most children that would only care what games you had on your home, and she was genuinely interested in what you studied at university.

After hearing Brian talk more about her during the car ride, it shows how proud he is of his daughter, though it came across as if she would have a better education and job than you would. This wasn't new from what chats you would have, but you felt like there was a difference between being pleased with how you've raised your daughter and bragging about it, though you bit your tongue and went along with it.

"You okay, bud? You've been pretty quiet this whole journey here, I hope you didn't steal any of that rum", he gives a hearty laugh and pats your shoulder, giving the gesture he was teasing.

He was putting a bit of force into the pat, but being a large and sturdy guy, he probably wasn't aware of his own strength, you found it comforting in a weird way. 

"No, of course not! Maybe not from your bottle, anyway," you give a cheeky grin, "it's why I didn't drive, of course!" 

His face drops from jolly to mildly surprised, as if he were trying to figure out whether you were joking or not. After a few seconds of an awkward pause, he grins and laughs a little harder, the car rocks a little as he pats your shoulder again.

"You're a riot, (Y/N)!" He catches his breath and turns the car off, opening up his door and slipping out, you follow him in pursuit. 

"Dinner may be a little late, brisket takes a while to cook, so I'll crack open a cold one with my lad, ami'right, (Y/N)?", Brian opens the door and you can hear the distant beep of his car locking, eventually, you realise what he just said, did he call you his lad?

"Uh... What was that?", you ask him to repeat himself, once you step inside, his living room is filled with wooden décore. 

"That's what you young adults are saying nowadays, right? 'Cracking a cold one with the lads', or something like that? It's all over Twitter", he sets his keys down on a table and wanders into the kitchen, which had a modern-esque design to it, "Daisy won't be home until a little later, she tends to stay late at school on Fridays, she wants to get all of her homework done and have a weekend full of reading." 

You can feel your sins on your back from university, you would always leave it last minute and a ten-year-old is better at being an adult than you are. 

"Wow, she must get into college pretty easily when she graduates high school, right?", your voice trails off now and then as you speak, you can feel your confidence drop from a solid 32 on the scale to an edgy 12. 

"She's deciding which one to get into, she's thinking of the top universities in the country or she'll go abroad", Brian opens his sliding door after collecting various items around the kitchen. 

You watch him from the opening, the wooden framework separating you both from the inside to the outside. He strolls out onto his deck, opening his grill and preparing the meat, you feel awkward just standing there watching him.  
"Dinner will be late, brisket will take hours to cook. It would have been done on time if I had some, I'm sorry, man" Brian breaks the silence, talking about himself like always, "-but I'm sure you'll love it, I'm the best griller around!"

You just nod, adding a little noise from your throat to let him know you heard him, but what do you do for the next four or so hours until dinner is ready? Seduce Brian? Too easy, you're a sexy fucking beast. The brisket will be charcoal the moment it touches your sizzling good looks. You try and boost your ego, but a part of you just wants to lay it cool. It's a nice day, so the garden can be pretty nice to hang around in. He has a nice deck, with some loungers scattered around and a nice seating area with a glass table.

You step out from the doorway and into the sunlight, heading towards Brian, to observe what he had done with his thick, juicy meat. He beats it, massages it finally lays it into the grill after the preparation of spices and herbs. He then turns to you.

"It'll take around 12 hours, I hope you can survive that long," your face drops for a split second, until you register what he had said was, obviously, a joke. However, from your expression, Brian found it most amusing, giving a laugh, as the jolly guy always does.

"I was kidding, don't worry!" he reaches over to your head to pat it, but stops immediately, "oops, meat juices", he gives another laugh, and he saunters back into the kitchen to clean himself, as you stand there, contemplating whether the innuendo was a flirt or a joke between "lads".

Brian emerges from the corner of your eye, tossing you a can of some sort. A cold can! Freezing actually! You turn it around and it's a beer can, a large beer can - Brian is such a dad.

"I hope you like beer, if not I don't mind making you one of my famous cocktails", he grins and he cracks open a freezing cold one with his socially inept friend. You weren't fond of beer, you always thought it was something people drank, not for the taste, but to either get a buzz or to impress others. Though you didn't want to put Brian through any trouble of fixing up a cocktail, and you didn't want to stroke his ego even more than you had to, even if his cocktail is famous.

"Thanks... Dude", you lay it off cool, you thought 'daddy' would be too soon.

"Dude, huh? I haven't been called that in a long while", he speaks as he removes his Hawaiian shirt, turns out, what is under his button up shirt was a tank top that showed a lot of skin from his shoulders and armpit area. 

There was hair, and tons of it - until he puts his hand on his waist and drinks his beer with the other hand as if he was trying to show off how cool he was. His armpit was very hairy, full of dark ginger hairs, it was quite a pose he was pulling.

"Cheers, buddy", he stops drinking and nods towards you, lifting his can up and goes back to drinking.

You look down at your can, you haven't tried this brand since your first year of university. Maybe your taste buds have changed? Only one way to find out. You take a gulp. Nope, still tastes bad, you'd tolerate it more if you were intoxicated, but you wanted to impress the man in front of you.

"Not a fan of it?", he could read your face like a child reading a colouring book.

"...Not really", you admit it to him, you feel a little bad about it.

"I'd rather you not drink it, then - I'd want to give it to someone who would enjoy it more if you know what I mean", he moves back inside and swiftly makes his way out with a glass and a straw.

You take the beverage and it's clear, with small bubbles rising to the top. Is it lemonade? How're you supposed to get drunk off this?

You raise your glass in a late retaliation, and you nod towards him, "Thank you, and cheers", you take a sip. There's a shot or two of a vanilla flavoured vodka, you feel like you could down the whole glass, but you shouldn't - you're not a student anymore. However; this doesn't stop you.

Once again, you feel a buzz come along, and the glass is already finished. You remember that, fuck, you still haven't eaten anything today. The drink was a bit strong the more you drank, were there 3 shots? Does Brian think you're still a student that goes out drinking? 

You look over at him and he's finished off his beer, his actions wavering a little, he's acting a little different, "...Hey, Brian, you okay?", you manage to speak out as you wander towards him.

"I'm feeling great, (Y/N), thank you for coming round today! We have a few hours to drink by ourselves if you want to sit down and chat!", he manoeuvres his way to the seating area and lays down, taking most of the triple seat up by sitting in the middle and extending his legs and arms, "While making your drink I may or may not have had a few shots of the vodka, it has been a while since I've had just alcohol..."

That must be the reason why he's acting a little strange all of a sudden, but you have a few hours, so you work your way over to the seats and you sit down on a singular chair.

"Hey, buddy don't sit all the way over there, come sit with me, do I smell or something? Want me to put my shirt back on?", he seems to be offended that you didn't sit with him, you didn't know he was so clingy.

"I would but you're taking up most of the space", you answer.

"Okay you sit here and I'll bring more alcohol to the table so we don't have to keep going back inside", he slowly but surely slides off the chair and stands up.

From the way he moved, his shirt rode up his body, and you saw a peek of his underbelly, and it stayed like that until he came out with a bucket full of ice and water, does he know? Does he care? Would it be weird if you told him because you would have been staring? 

The shirt became loose and gravity had betrayed you. Damn it. Brian sat next to you, leaning closer to you as he pours the lemonade into your glass and topping it up with some more vodka, it seems like he doesn't measure shots, he pours the liquid in until he feels like it's enough, he probably thinks because you're a student, your tolerance to alcohol must be pretty high, but he's sadly mistaking.

He takes a few more shots himself, and he brings up a new beer can, he opens it and taps it against your glass lightly. With a smile you can vaguely see from the curling of his moustache, he speaks, "cheers!"


	3. Little Offspring

It had roughly been an hour of drinking and watching Brian stumble towards the grill to check the brisket as his perception of time was warped from the alcohol. You see him wrap up the brisket in tin foil and return to the seat next to you. Even Maxwell had joined the party after a long few hours snooze on Brian's bed. He runs around panting excitedly, waring himself out and taking a nap on one of the single chairs next to you.

Brian continuously takes shot after shot as if he were trying to impress you, you also had to drink more in order to catch up, but he would drink more to catch up to you. It was like an ant mill, the spiral of death between you two, one catching up to the other, not knowing how drunk the other was. Blindly unaware you were both getting more drunk, that you began to turn it into a drinking game.

Brian had dug out a bunch of shot glasses and plastic cups full of different types of alcohol, rum, vodka, beer, cocktails - all sorts. Some drinks were soft, such as lemonade or water, so you had no idea what to get. Brian tossed a coin and landed into a cup, he would push it towards you and you would have to drink it.

It was then your turn, you flicked the coin into a shot glass, Brian tilted his head backwards and his face twisted, "Ugh... Vodka," he grimaced as he slams the glass down in disgust of the fiery taste.

"Why would you have vodka if you didn't like it?", you replied in wit.

Brian tosses the coin into a glass that was equal to the amount of a double shot, "vodka is good for cocktails", he responds insipidly.

You reluctantly pick up the glass, giving it a sniffing at the contents. You smell nothing, and so you tilt your head back to chug it down. You can feel your mouth begin to salivate to the burning taste of the alcohol.

You feel like your face is being manipulated by time and space as it distorts in revulsion. You're not used to vodka either, and you're about to eat and fully digest the words you spoke to Brian only a mere few seconds ago.

"What did you drink? Water?" Brian leans forward, grinning from ear to ear, he's lucky he's so fucking cute.

"Yeah, I hate water," you decided to play along with his little game, his face looks at you stunned, he seems to have taken the bait, but you can't lie to him any longer, "It was vodka," you announce proudly, giving him a cheeky smile.

He chortles at you while stroking his beard, awaiting his fate to be chosen by the coin you possess. You feel like you want to go lightly on him, so you aim for a cocktail in one of the plastic cups, you flick it into a beaker and he glugs it down.

"You could have gone easy on me, buddy, that was whiskey - I'm not getting lucky with these, am I?", he gripes, you feel terrible.

"I'm sorry, I was trying to aim for an easy cocktail for you!" you plead him for forgiveness.

Before you could say anything else, he leans towards you and wraps his arm around you, pulling you close to his opened shirt, his chest hair tickled the tip of your nose. He smells of wood and nature, with a mixture of cologne. 

Brian ruffles your hair playfully while letting out a great bellow of a laugh, "Oh you, don't take it so seriously!", he embraces you tighter.

You readjust yourself a little bit towards him and your hand brushes against his tree trunk-like thigh. You're so gone that you begin to freak out a little, fearing he'll get the wrong idea, but he didn't seem to notice.

You then heard the combination of a door opening and closing. Ghosts? Paranormal activity? Poltergeist? None of those, it was cuter, and she held a school backpack, it was Daisy! You go so excited that Maxwell woke up barking cheerfully, stumbling over his limp-numb body. You leaned away from Brian as he held you in his grasp, towards the armchair, so hastily, that you pulled Brian along with you and he laid against your back, pretty drunk himself.

"Hey guys, I'm guessing this is a good occasion that you both have been drinking?", Daisy seems very calm and collected about this situation. 

Brian gets off of you and heads over to Daisy to give her a hug from behind, however he seems to sway side to side as he does so, the look on her face seems like she's very much used to this side of Brian, especially at such a young age, you seem a little worried about it.

"Hey, you! You're home early, is everything okay?" Brian seems like a very clingy but caring drunk, you kind of like it.

"Yeah, everything is fine, I was able to finish off my homework pretty quickly because I stayed up late last night, and I hung out with some acquaintances from my class, too." she seemed to be glowing from how happy she is, bless her.

"You shouldn't stay up so late, I'll let it slide, okay?" He genuinely seems worried, maybe it's because he's super sensitive when he's intoxicated?

"I'm already ten, I should be able to stay up a little late to finish off some homework, right?" I mean she has a point.

"You're a smart girl, you should calm down with your homework, it's your exams you should properly work on." if you had a kid, you'd feel like he'd be one-upping you, but your confidence is safe for now.

"Hey, Daisy! You don't seem very surprised or stressed about your dad drinking," you begin to ask her, though he suddenly gives a quick reply.

"He goes out drinking with Aunty Mary and Robert every so often and this is on a good day. I hear him stumble up the stairs sometimes and I'm surprised how he can still use his legs" she gives a giggle and Brian looks very unimpressed.

"Come on, Daisy, I'm not that bad am I?" he moans as Maxwell is circling around their legs, yapping away.

"I'd rather have the clingy, happy dad than the dads in the stories I hear all over the internet", Daisy pats Brians' arms and he lets go, and she slips towards the grill to check the brisket.

"Hey, hon, what're you doing? I don't want you to hurt yourself!", Brian is definitely clingy, you just wish he was that clingy with you right now.

"It's fine, dad, I've done research on how to cook a great brisket, and I've watched you make it many times, I know how to handle it. I also don't trust how intoxicated you are next to a grill, so relax and sober up a bit and then you can take over.", she's a good daughter asserting herself like this, and better yet Brian is letting it happen.

He marches towards the chairs again and grabs you by your arm, he pulls his weight to his lower body and he crashes onto the chair, pulling you down with him. You land next to him, the side of your body touching him directly. His mass is giving off a pleasant warmth.

He notices how close you both are sitting, and he wraps his arm around you, leaning back comfortably, "Sitting pretty close, aren't ya?", he gives out a light chuckle, rubbing your shoulder.

You enjoy the comfort he gives when massaging your shoulder with his large, rough hand. You can tell from the corner of your eyes that he's looking at you, without breaking any sort of contact. You dry-swallow and you turn to look at him, he's caught by surprise that you caught him, but he's reluctant to look away and gives off a smile that brightens up his whole face.

You're filled with content and you can't help but grin back. You're thankful that a small coincidence of going to a store to get an alcoholic drink would lead to you sitting here, next to the bulky, kind-hearted man you've admired for weeks.

He raises his hand to stroke the side of your head, "I'm just going to check up on our dinner quickly, you can carry on drinking if you want, but I'm going to sober up a little for Daisy", he ruffles your head once again.

He jogs off to the grill and you could hear Daisy giggle, you eye the leftover beverages on the table, so you decide to down them all to cool yourself off, you feel like a failure compared to him, and you hate the feeling, but one thing is for sure, you can't wait to get a taste of that brisket.


	4. "I'm so gone, I've drunk too much"

You're in the middle of finishing off the remainders of the alcohol that had been left and set on the table. You didn't want to do anything you might regret with Daisy, a child, being around so you made the decision that these will be your final drink. Though, to your surprise, ever since she's come home, she seems passive about the involvement of alcohol being around her, either she doesn't know what it is, or she knows all too well about it; but you decide not to bring it up as a conversation just in case it becomes awkward, and you vowed to yourself to stick to soft drinks after guzzling the leftovers.

Whilst midway though drinking the remainder of the liquor, the young girl asks you a question in the most innocent voice, "are you enjoying the drinks with dad, (Y/N)?"

You gasp and inhale the last dribble of alcohol, spluttering and hacking whilst wheezing a "yes," and "it's great" in between coughs.

Daisy rushes to comfort you, rubbing your back until you manage to breathe again, as Brian bolts over to check up on you, too. You speedily stabilise your breathing in fear the ginger bear would come up from behind to attempt CPR, though you enjoyed the thought of mouth to mouth resuscitation, even if it only happens while you are unconscious.

"Y'kay, bud?" Brian places his large hand onto your back, joining in with Daisy, to which his hand is surprisingly gentle despite him being a construction worker.

"I'm fine, was more worried you'd break my ribs by attempting CPR", you blurt out with a weak chuckle.

Daisy stops rubbing your back, and Brian slides his hand up to your shoulder, gripping it firmly, "it wasn't severe enough for something like that," stares at you, "plus, I have to ask if you were choking before I start anything", he winks and returns back to the grill.

You cough the remainder of the saliva caught in your throat, and you're able to speak without the wet sensation of the liquor at the back of your oesophagus, "You know what we're doing?", you question Daisy hesitantly.

"Oh, yes. It's called drinking. I don't know the proper term for it, though, but that's because dad says I'm too young to know or to worry about", she gives off a warm smile, you can tell she gets her joy from her father.

"But how do you know about it?", you urge the conversation more.

"When mum divorced dad, he went out most nights after work with some friends around the col-der-sac. He said it was to help him cope with everything," her smile turned downwards as she paused, you could feel a little bit of pain as she continued, "I could tell he was hurting, but as I was much younger, I didn't know how to make him feel better. He would come home mumbling to himself, whatever he used to do, it would always make him more clumsy, and his speech was always slurred."

You couldn't believe what you were hearing, you didn't want to judge the man you had admired, but you remembered that leaving your child alone to go out drinking must be illegal under child neglect, especially if Daisy was much younger at the time.

"Wouldn't that be illegal if he left you alone just to go drinking?", you lower your voice, then Daisy shakes her head.

"I wasn't alone, I would have been babysat by Val before she moved away, she's Roberts Daughter. Then dad would come home and Val would go, too. Val needed the money, and it was an opportunity to test her cooking skills, too.", she seems to be smiling now.

"What kind of person would your dad be when he would come home?", you were tempted to know.

"Clumsy. He would giggle a lot and he would always try to give hugs, and he would be very clingy, but some nights he wouldn't be able to last 10 minutes through the door and fall asleep on the sofa clinging onto me", she giggles "I'd be in bed, but I'd always ask Val to wake me up to wait for dad once he would let her know he was coming home."

Clumsy, overly affectionate and would laugh a lot. On the plus side, he would always sort out a babysitter beforehand to look after Daisy. You feel like you were going to fall for him even more, it wasn't even curiosity or admiration at this point.

"I thought you didn't know anything about drinking, why did you mention about news articles to Brian?", you were pretty concerned.

"I've read some articles, but they were pretty vague, I know drinking is a bad thing, but can also be fun if you don't do it excessively.", she brings up a good point.

"When did he stop going out to drink?", you asked the final question.

"Oh, he still goes out, but he slowly stopped going out so often around half a year ago. He goes out every Saturday and sometimes hosts here with his friends, but he doesn't always change drastically, just more chipper than he usually is", Daisy climbs out of her chair and into the building, shortly coming out with a glass of dark orange liquid, you assume it's orange juice, or maybe even mango, "Now that I've answered your interrogations, you should answer my question now: What is drinking?"

You look down, and then away from Daisy, biting your thumbnail a little. Should you tell her? Brian has gone this far without giving her hints to what it is. Daisy is very intelligent and could easily look it up herself, but not smart enough to consult to the internet about it.

"You'll know when you're older... Plus, you're drinking now, with that glass you have in your hand", you give off a sarcastic remark.

You turn back to Daisy, slouching in her chair with a dazed expression on her face, until you hear her mutter the words "I'm so gone, I've drunk too much" with various groaning sound effects, mocking the man behind you who had finished cooking the brisket and is preparing the meal.

You give off a chuckle from her amusement, witnessing Brian walking over with a tray full of food, sliding it onto the table in front of you. You could feel your mouth watering from the chunk of meat in front of you, prepared with a side of salad and some rolls. You hear a squeak from Daisy and you glance over, empty-handed and looking up worryingly at Brian.

"Don't go searching for information about drinking until you're older, I don't need you worrying about this stuff", he states as he gulps down her drink.

"Oh, dad that was so mean! That was the last of my mango juice, too! You know how much that's my favourite!", she pouts and squeals.

"I bought it yesterday, did you really drink it all? Did you check the shed's fridge?", He points to the shed behind him, using his thumb over his shoulder, and Daisy's face lights up, scurrying out of her chair towards the hut.

Brian slips into the kitchen and peels his head out of the door frame, "Did you want a drink? We have squash, tea, coffee, anything you fancy? Even a cola?", he shows you what he has in his hand, a can of cola, already dripping with water. It looks cold.

"Cola would be great, thank you!", you grin at him, as you see Daisy skipping back into her chair with the carton of mango juice.

Brian slips into the seat next to you once again, opening up his already buttered roll, piling on salad and slapping his meat into the bun and squashing it down into a fine sandwich.

"Ever had brisket before?", he glances towards you, holding his roll firmly, "This is how you make a perfect bap", he grins and bites it, you gaze at him, in awe at how big his mouth is and how he could put the whole roll in his mouth, even with a bit of a struggle.

"No, this is my first time, I hope it tastes as good as I've heard online, it takes a while to make, so I never really tried it", you do the same as Brian, by filling up the roll to the brim with brisket and salad, and you bite into it.

You feel your mouth water, the juices of the brisket squirt out, and you can feel as if it were melting on your tongue. The crunch of the bread was therapeutic, and the crunch of the lettuce every time you chewed was satisfying. Brian gave a beaming smile as you realised the pleasure you were eating was obviously displayed across your face. As a student that recently graduated, and still feeling the rush of alcohol through your system, you knew this was better than the kebab places you would grab on the way home after a night out. Brian was the man you wanted to cook for you after coming home from a night out.

After hours of having pleasant conversations with both Brian and Daisy, playing board games and card games, whilst being showered with love by Maxwell, you decided to go back home. It was pretty late, and you felt as if you overstayed your welcome, as much as Brian would try and lure you in to stay the night, you felt as if you weren't close enough to sleep over, even if it wasn't in the same bed or even in the same room.

You had a long shower, replaying the day in your mind and how much of a coincidence it was to start it off. You dried off and received a drink from the fridge to place on your nightstand and you wriggled yourself into the middle of your bed, tossing and turning for a while to find its sweet spot. The last thing you thought about was the amazing smile that man gave to you whilst you were waiting for that brisket to be cooked.


	5. Confrontation

You jolt awake abruptly from your peaceful slumber. The alcohol you had the previous day had made you sleep soundly for once, and you hadn't slept for so long without a disturbance in a long while. But what made you wake up so suddenly? You think to yourself for a bit, until you hear a familiar ringing of the doorbell that you could have sworn you heard in your dreams.

You get out of bed, and as you stroll towards the door you realise you must've kicked and struggled your shirt and trousers off whilst you were rolling around unconsciously.

You fidget with the handle and you open it slowly, peering through the small gap between the door and the frame. Self consciously, you poke your head out, hiding behind the opening, standing in your underwear. Who could it be? Obviously, it was Brian. Showing off his usual facial expression with a huge grin as you greet him.

"Hey, buddy! I hope this isn't too early, or a bad time. I remembered I had leftovers from last night and I thought you'd like the rest of the Brisket to make sandwiches with," he raised the big bowl in his hands slightly, showing it off to you, "are you okay?"

You're excited to see the ginger stud, but it feels too early to acknowledge his existence just yet. You prop your position up and you vigorously rub the corner of your eye with a few fingers, ending it with a mildly audible groan.

"I just woke up so I'm a bit out of it right now. Do you have the time on you?", you ask, once again bringing both hands to your eyes and pressing down on them as you rub, stimulating your vagus nerve. This feels amazing.

"Y-Yes, it's just gone past 11, I thought you'd like some lunch... If you're okay with that", Brian seems a little flustered, it seems like he can't look at you.

You try to remember what happened last night to make it seem awkward. Once you realised you had propped yourself up, you were the last to realise your full body is in sight for Brian to see; you slowly get back behind the door.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to make this weird", you apologise for your #FreeTheNipple stunt.

"Oh, no, it's fine! I didn't want to make you feel uncomfortable. You're hiding for a reason, and I didn't want to step over that boundary if it makes you feel bad", he rubs the back of his neck in nervousness, and you can see his veins popping out as he holds the bowl with his other hand - it must be pretty heavy.

Hearing Brian being so understanding just makes you want to show off even more, but not just yet. You both barely know each other, but you want to play with this guy just a little longer and see how long it'll take him to make a move. So, you give off a smile, still using the door as a shield to hide yourself and to keep a barrier between the two of you, you invite him in.

"Come on in if you want to, I'll put something on", you offer him, he glances back with a small smile and he steps in. You feel a little self-conscious of your home after seeing his yesterday.

"I remember this house from the previous owners, it seems smaller than I remember, but it suits you," Brian stands in the centre of the room as he looks around at your décore, as he keeps his back to you, placing the bowl of brisket onto the coffee table and lifting his hand to his jaw, that you assume that he is fiddling with his facial hair in curiosity.

You aren't sure whether or not you should feel offended by the way the man you admired had described the size of your first home. You didn't care whether or not the home was small or large at all, it's the first place you were paying rent for, and you were doing it all yourself, keeping in the back of your mind that you would have to deal with your student debt eventually, but your income was pretty stable from your online job.

"I'll wait here for you while you put something on, I won't look, so no need to be embarrassed" you could hear him scratching his beard rather harshly, presuming he does that when he's feeling awkward or maybe even anxious, just like any human does when feeling nervous.

"Okay, I'll be right back," you mutter, trying your best to push the words out of your throat enough for him hear you.

You saunter towards Brian. He nonchalantly turns himself away, his back still turned after noticing your footsteps were getting closer before he perceives your bedroom was in the direction he was previously facing.

You made it! You feel a lump in your throat which pulsates profusely. Not many people have seen you in your underwear apart from close friends during your time away at university. However, this was completely different to getting wasted and spending a night around your friends on their sofa. You grab some lazy afternoon clothes, asking yourself questions as to why you didn't notice you were underdressed before answering the door.

You probably subconsciously felt as if it were Brian at the door, and this was your way to flirt and maybe get his heart to flutter a bit after seeing some of your skin. Though if it wasn't Brian, what would you have done then? After thinking about the situation more in depth, you feel your ears burn and your nose feels like as if it were about to start bleeding. You felt the same emotion as if you remembered uncomfortable memories back in your adolescence which you painfully regret. You felt humiliated as to why you thought this would work.

Eventually, you calm down, and in your sloppy clothes, you didn't feel as if you had to impress him at all. All you wore was a plain coloured shirt which was a loose fit, with some baggy tracksuit bottoms, this was your house, you're allowed to be comfortable, you reassure yourself, as you head back into the living room where Brian remained.

"Ah- lazy day, huh? Good call, buddy!" the man lets out a bellow, but you feel as if he were making a sarcastic remark.

Does he live his life wanting to make others feel like shit? Does he notice that's what he's doing? Does he think you're just a lazy slob that doesn't dress to impress? Why does it matter if your house is small? Come to think of it, he bragged a lot about his achievements yesterday, such as his 'big' fridge, his smart daughter, the universities and greatness she could do with her insane amount of intelligence that she apparently didn't inherit after her father, to name a few.

You feel as if you wanted to bring this to his attention. It kind of bothered you that the kind, caring and gentle giant seemed to boast about his accomplishments. You weren't sure whether he meant to make you feel bad, but you wanted to let it out. You begin to feel the adrenaline rush you similarly felt when you were back in the car with him, though this wasn't excitement, this was genuine fear of how he would react.

"Uh... Hey, Brian - what did you mean when you said the house was small?", you didn't know how to start it off, you just stood there trembling like a scared little dog, "Like, how does it suit me?"

His face warped from charming and smiley, to confused and concerned, "I just meant that it's a cute place for someone like you to start out, ya'know, (Y/N)? I don't expect you to leave university and get an impressive house like mine unless you work hard!", he lets out a chuckle to remove the awkwardness that you caused.

"That's what I mean, you come across as a little abrasive when talking about your achievements. I feel as if I'm just a kid compared to all of the adults in this neighbourhood. I feel as if I'm not smart enough compared to someone like Daisy, after just graduating and moving into my own home.", your voice begins to crack a little under pressure as you pour your feelings out, you want it to be done and over, but it won't stop.

You continue, "I feel self-conscious about everything, this small house compared to yours, my intelligence and self-esteem. I feel like the first impression you got from me when I got into your car was off-putting. I feel like you have to one-up me in everything, even if I have nothing to back myself up with"

You dig your nails into your palm, as you see Brians face completely drop. His mouth agape as you continue talking, and his eyes looked as if they were filled with regret and sadness - they were completely glossed over as if he were about to tear up, and you can see a monster reflecting off of them, and it was you.

"And... Your fucking big fridge...", you end your sentence, looking down and away from the male in front of you.

You feel a liquid drop from your lashes. Are you crying? Why is this so emotional for you? You've only just started talking to him. Why has he got you feeling this way?

You hear the floor creak and light tapping of footsteps getting closer to you. You're not sure what's coming, but you flinch a little, and you feel a large presence hovering over your shoulder, then withdrawing his action. He attempted to comfort you by grasping onto your shoulders, though with the situation, he wasn't sure if he would make it worse.

"I'm sorry. I'm just a bit sensitive, I'm sure you didn't mean to do anything which could cause offence", you rub your eyes and you look up, attempting to fake a smile, but you couldn't do it.

The man looking down at you was tearing up. A stream rolled down his face before he spoke to you, "I'm so sorry. I didn't know you felt this way. All I wanted to do was impress you. I've had this problem for a long while, now, and I feel that's the reason why I was never able to become close to the other father who moved away after his daughter went off to college. This could have been why" he chuckled, but behind that soft laugh sounded like pain, "I'm not making excuses. I honestly apologise wholeheartedly that I have made you feel less than human. You're new and young and full of life, and I wanted to be a role model you could look up to, or aspire to be"

Hearing all of this coming out of the previously jolly man's mouth made you feel like such an asshole. You squeak an 'I'm sorry' to him and he lunges forward, wrapping his large hands around the back of your head and the other hand rested on your lower back. He pulls you into an embrace and your face is once again engulfed in chest hair. He smells different today, he smells a little musky with a hint of wood, it's like he went for a run today, but it was a comforting scent.

You cry heave, trying to catch up with your breath. You thought the whole thing was stupid. Crying over nothing, and making the whole misunderstanding and even bigger problem. Brian rubs your back gently in long, soft strokes going up and down your spine, as he holds your head in place on his chest, murmuring a 'shhh' sound to calm you down.

You feel relaxed and you've stopped the gross sobbing noises into the bear's pecs and you return the hug to him, wrapping your tender arms around the large frame supporting you. After you stop sniffling, you adjust your stance, giving a signal you're ready to pull away. Brian lets go and slide his hands onto your shoulders - you look up at him with a soft but worried smile, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to cause such unnecessary drama. Thank you for the comfort, though", you chuckle as your ears burn in a reaction to the comfort, a light blush slowly growing across your face.

"It's alright, buddy, I'm sorry, too, and the comfort was very much needed on both parts. Ya'see, even grown men like me cry", he reassures you.

Brian stares at you longingly, and you return the gaze. Not knowing what to do, you rest both of your hands on the pair that are on your shoulders still. You begin to feel a little awkward, not being used to being stared at this long before. You look away shyly, and you return a look as if you were wondering what was going on.

Brian leans in close to your face, and you wince, "What's wrong?", you ask under your breath.

"Your eyes are really red, have you been doing the big four-twenty?", he couldn't help but cackle under his breath as he teases you.

Surprised by the question, you let out a bellow, "Nah, dude, I do harder stuff like Origanum vulgare. Sometimes I snort flour", you slip out of his grasp once he responds with a hearty laugh, clutching onto his belly.

You feel great joy how you can have a serious conversation with this guy, then turn the situation into something that you can both just laugh at in the end. Like pretending you smoke spices.


	6. A Trip to the Lake! Part One

It had been a few hours since the discussion you had with Brian about what had been bothering you. During that time, you both had something to eat and relaxed a little in your garden, which is when Brian wanted to take you on a small trip as a way to apologise for the way he had treated you, of course, getting more along time with him was all you ever wanted, so you obliged.

Brian took you gently by the wrist and lead you away from your home and over to his place to sort out all the 'necessities' he claimed you both would need. Of course, you had no idea what was going on, until you were greeted by Daisy and Maxwell jumping into the back of the car, giving a greeting to you, and you back to them.

Brian had been driving for a while, and the car had been filled with conversation and songs being sung by the members of the Harding family, most of which were 90's to early 00's, and you were still so unaware of what was going on, so you decided to ruin the surprise. 

"Hey, Brian, where are we going?", you turn to him, his gaze fixating on the road. 

"You want me to ruin the surprise?", he asked, still keeping his head straight ahead. 

You think for a bit as you continuously stare at the man beside you, with colours of light in the environment of blues from the sky and green of nature dancing around on his freckly skin.

"I do, I just want to know what's going on, I don't recognise this place", Brian smirks a bit and gives you a quick glance.

"Well, I want to take you to my favourite spot which Daisy, Maxwell and I like to hang out every weekend if we can", Brian continues, "it's a beautiful lake with boats you can use to fish and forests to explore. We would go in the morning, but as we left during the afternoon, I thought we could stay the night here"

You're speechless, it sounds romantic, but you're not much of an outdoor person, how would you take in this atmosphere? But you decide you would give it a chance, to satisfy and please Brian.

"Is that alright?", Brian turns to you in reaction to your silence, keeping his eyes locked on you for a few seconds before looking back to the road ahead.

"Yeah, that's fine with me, I'm always up for new things, and I've always wanted to try out fishing!", you give Brian the reassurance, and then you notice that Brian's eye twitched, and then his brow, and then his nose flared a little.

He can't be mad, right? You broke concentration once you hear Daisy giggling and Maxwell panting loudly, hearing his claws and tiny paws scurrying around on the car seat.

"We're almost there, aren't we, dad?“, Daisy announces, and the response from Brian being a simple "almost".

You're excited to see what kind of place it could be, and you're touched that Brian and Daisy wanted to bring you along to their special place.

The car, after being on a narrow one-way road surrounded by trees finally makes it way out of the labyrinth and into a wide open space with the lake in front of you. There was the lake you were promised, along with the boat and the forests surrounding the area, making it seem like a fantasy land.

Brian and Daisy open their doors, and you follow in pursuit. You wander around to the boot of the car where Brian and Daisy are crowding, with Maxwell running around yapping around everyone's feet, demanding attention.

"(Y/N), here is the real surprise," Brian takes out a neatly wrapped present, that looks like he wrapped up a long stick or a very long, thin ruler.

You received the mysterious item and you begin to unwrap it. Wrapped up all nicely was a fishing rod, but not just any kind, it looked pretty expensive - it's almost as if he knew exactly what kind of person you were with the colour, make and general appeal of the rod that tickled your fancy.

"Brian, I-", interrupting you, Brian spoke, "it made me really happy when you said you wanted to try out fishing, I was wondering if maybe you'd like to be fishing buddies every now and then, ya know?" he scratches his beard shyly, you've never seen Brian like this, he's acting reserved and self-conscious.

"I love it, it makes me happy you want to spend more time with me, but I can't just take this. It looks expensive..." you lower your tone, and Brian grips onto your shoulders.

"Please accept it, (Y/N)" he stares into your soul, giving you the sense of seriousness - he really wants you to accept it.

"Thank you so much, Brian, I'll cherish it, I swear", you glance down at the rod, examining every aspect.

Brian grins and loosens his grip, rubbing your shoulders in glee and pleasure. You turn and rotate the rod, you couldn't get enough of this feeling. Your heartfelt full, it was beating like crazy, and you felt like your emotions were going to overflow.  
You lay the rod down along with Brian's and Daisy's, and you help Brian unload the car. Turns out he was prepared and sorted, almost as if he already had this planned out. He has prepped a small barbecue, brought along as well as some equipment, floor mats, and even two tents.

After an hour, the tents were set up, the four of you had gathered up some wood for the start of a small fire, and all that would need to be done now was for food and preparation.

"Daisy, would you like to begin making some dinner whilst I teach (Y/N) how to fish in the boat?", he picks up both fishing rods, along with a bucket and a box of bait and other essentials.

"Yeah, dad, no problem, but only if I get to use the adult knives!", Daisy picks up a large butchers knife and holds it up confidently with a smug expression.

"Only this once, hon, but I don't think you'll need that knife to cut salad", Brian chuckles and scratches the back of his head - he seems a bit nervous about her safety.

"Au contraire, papa, a chef needs the best essentials in order to create the best dishes!", Daisy responds deviously.

"Well, you're a smart young lady and I'm sure you know what you're doing, so I will trust you with the preparation!", Brian takes a bow as if he were talking to royalty.

You both head off to the boat and Brian guides you out into the centre of the lake. He spends the first five minutes teaching you the basics of filling the bucket, attaching the bait, how to reel in, etcetera. You both end up sitting back to back with your own bucket next to each other. 

"Would you be fine with a little friendly competition?" Brian turns around to glance at you.

You cock your body to the side to meet his gaze, "Sounds like fun, what's the catch?“

"We catch fish", Brian speaks as he turns around to face the lake again, as you sit there awkwardly and confused. 

You're about to speak until Brian leans his back into you as a friendly nudge as he laughs, "I'm kidding, buddy! How about the loser does whatever the winner tells them to do! We weigh the fish altogether and see which bucket is heavier." 

You think. This is dangerous, if you win, you could get him to do whatever you want. This cliché, porn-esque plot for you to see this man naked - but would you stop there? 

"What're you thinking about?", you could feel the crease of his clothes move, simulating that he must have twisted his neck to try and look at you in curiosity. 

Brian leans forward again, and you answer his question, "thinking about what to do when I win."

It was true, you're thinking of all the possibilities that could happen. What would you do? You could ask him to strip for you. You could ask to feel his pecs or back. He could flex for you and carry you as if you were a damsel in distress. But the problem being was that you didn't want to ruin this friendship you have made with lewd thoughts. 

"In 3-2-1 we tell each other what we want the loser to do, ready?“, Brian gives a chuckle, in a few seconds silence you could just hear waves of the water being pushed by the wind. 

"Three... Two... One..." Brian counts down, unable to think of anything, you blurt out what was on the top of your head. 

"Grope your belly!' you squeal. 

"Throw you into the lake-", Brian announces shortly after you start and cuts himself off as he processes what you said.

"Ah... Heh... My belly, huh? Well, you're going to have to win if you want to touch it", it sounds like he's not taking you seriously, which is both good but disappointing.

"Why throw me into the lake?", you questioned him curiously.

"Because I get to test out my muscles by picking you up and throwing you, and I want to get you wet", he cackled, it's like he does this a lot with Daisy and now he wants to try it out with you.

At least he gets to flex off his muscles and carry you.

You feel the fishing line tug, and you let out a gasp of confusion as the reel is going crazy, you hear Brian shout "careful, wait until it relaxes, bend the rod 90 degrees and slowly reel it in as you lower it again!".

You manage to get the fish onto the boat and into the bucket beside you. You turn to Brian smugly, trying not to brag too much and showing off your first fish. You look into his bucket and miraculously he's caught so much fish. The fuck? How quiet is he? Combining all the fish together its length and girth is quadruple yours. Size doesn't matter, but it does when fish weight more the bigger they are - they don't suddenly weigh less! 

Brian smiles shyly and scratches his beard, "I didn't want to brag and make you feel awful, but you've got this, you'll be able to touch my belly in no time!"

Him saying such a thing struck through you. Your ears turn pink and you go back to concentrating on the fish. He's totally oblivious that it's your intention and it's your reward for doing such an amazing job at beating him at his own game.

You throw the fishing line once you've attached new bait back into the lake, and a few short minutes later you feel the line begin to tug. Playing with the angle of the rod and holding onto the reel, you feel a weight rest against your back, but it was heavier than last time. It's as if Brian was putting all of his mass onto you, and then he asks.

"So, if your reward was to give me a belly rub, is it over or under the shirt? Am I suddenly a dog for you to play with? Want me to play and pretend I'm a bigger version of Maxwell?", he gives a short chuckle.

He's obviously trying to get to you. He knows you have a fish on the line and he's trying his very best to distract you as much as he can.

"Woof. Woof." Brian blandly barks, no feeling, no emotion, just sarcasm and playful banter.

The rod stops moving and you reel it back in, the bait is gone and nothing is attached. Brian won this round, but you want to play along, too.

Brian takes his weight off, and so you listen carefully to the fishing line plunking into the water. You sit there silently, waiting for a fish to bite... PLUNK. Now is your chance. You place your rod down and you turn yourself towards Brian. Lifting yourself up and into him, you hug him from behind, resting your head on his shoulder.

You lean in close to his ear whilst he tries his hardest to reel the fish in - he's pretty good at ignoring you in the right moments, but you want to push further.

"I don't think you're gonna' catch that fish", you mutter lowly into his ear, your nose lifting parts of his red hair above his ears, tickling you both.

Brian stiffens up, his hands fidget, and the fish lets go. You pull away and the smell fades from a manly scent of shampoo and cologne to the salty and refreshing smell of nature surrounding you both.

You sit back down into your spot, reattaching bait and throwing the line back into the water, hoping to get some bites. You feel the same weight lean against you, but it was slower and lighter than before.

Breathlessly, Brian spoke. "How unfair."

You lean into him as well, resting your head back, chuckling to him in a response, and surprisingly, his head is tilted back as well. You both sit there silently, craniums connected, as you both wait for the contest to be over.

Moments later, you and Brian return to shore, you obviously have lost this contest, but you're proud of how many fish you have caught on your first time.

Daisy could be seen running around with Maxwell, throwing sticks, tennis balls and even the odd dog snack. It puts you at peace for a little whilst until you realised what reality had in store for you. You see the huge figure stand in front of you, and he wore a devilish grin.

"Before we count up, how about I give you one of my biggest fish, just so we make it fair," Brian lifts up his bucket to show it off, his muscles bulging, his pecs dancing and his gut straining. 

He continues as he places the bucket down. "Originally I wouldn't offer this if I were trying to impress you too much, but I want to get you closer to your dream." He winks and eventually bursts out into a hearty laugh.

He tidies up the table of cut food that Daisy had prepared, and had already been wrapped and protected from bug infestations, making enough room to put the buckets of fish on top of, and room for him to weigh, though you don't see any scales.

"But, how do we measure them?" you're baffled how you'd possibly be able to weigh these fish without scales unless they're in his car somewhere.

"I have a measuring tape, we measure the thickest part of the fish and then we measure from the nose to the tail. We multiply the girth by girth, and multiply that measurement with the length, and then divide by 800. Voila, scale-free weighing." Brian gives you the brightest smile.

"But wouldn't it be easier with scales?"

"I like to feel smart by doing maths" Brian simply responds.

After 15 minutes or so measuring both of your fish and using your phone's calculator to measure it all, you found out the results. Even with Brians biggest fish to save your ass from being tossed into the freezing lake, he still had a few kilograms more weight than you did.

It's official. You're going to be fed to the fish.


	7. A Trip to the Lake! Part Two

You lean back in your portable chair, stretching as hard as you can as you finish your last bite of fish. You were proud of the fish you and Brian caught together, but it was more than you needed. Way more.

You were only able to finish off one full fish and the next one you had on your plate you only picked at when you felt you weren't going to explode again. 

"I can't eat anymore, I actually feel like I will explode", you gurgled in defeat, lowering your arms made you feel heavier and you sat in your seat, slouching, getting lower and lower trying to find a comfortable spot. But it was impossible - you had to stand.

You stand, eyeing up Brian and Daisy to see how their dinner was getting along, even Maxwell was enjoying his healthy and nutritious sea-meat. Brian pushed his plate away, and Daisy did so as well, mimicking her father. Daisy easily conquered two medium sized fish that you had caught along with some of her salad she had prepared, whilst Brian had somehow scarfed down four huge fish with a side of salad, too alongside with one of yours, which was only half the size of his - he probably wanted to show his appreciation, in his own way.

"I feel as if I could become a bear and hibernate for months", Daisy moaned, she obviously ate too much as she looks just as uncomfortable as you are.

"Hahaha, I could hibernate like a bear, too", Brian chortled as he scratched his chest from the inside of his sleeveless shirt. 

Funny thing is, he already is part-bear, you thought to yourself.

The two Hardings stood out of their seat, picking up the plates and leftovers. Not knowing what to do, you copy their moves in hope of being useful.

"If I take your plate, could you pass me a beer, buddy?", Brian cajoled, turning to you and nudging you with his shoulder and ending his interaction with a wink and a tug on your plate.

You have no clue how to react to this interaction, and so you babble with a 'sure' and you allow him to take hold of your plate. You just had to find out whereabouts the beer was. 

You see a box. It looks like a portable freezer box that you would normally take camping. You open it up and the cold air brushes against your face. The magic of these devices. You take out a beer can and you close the box, getting ready to stand to bring it to Brian until you hear him shouting over to you.

"Help yourself, buddy, feel free to have something!"

And so you do. You find beer, fizzy drinks, and a few cocktails and rum mixed with coke in a can, you take two, a Jack Daniels and cola drink, and vodka and cola. They were half of the size of the beer can and you only thought it would be fair.

Brian approaches, "dishes are cleaned now, and in all honesty, Daisy and I are thinking of heading to bed early", he takes the beer from your grasp and clinks it against your two cans and gulps it down.

"Thank you for getting it for me, now drink up, we need to get the tossing out of the way", he cackles, screwing up the empty beer can with one hand.

You feel your back getting itchy and sweaty. You really don't want to go through with this, but you down the two cans in your hand, hoping that if you were to get drunk quickly, it might not be so bad.

Brian takes the empty beer cans you were holding and places them in a bag full of recycling rubbish and shortly returns to you. 

"You ready?", and without a second thought, he picks you up, carrying you like a damsel in distress, and walks onto the wooden walkway where the boat was attached, you could hear Daisy in the background hooting and hollering.

Daisy might enjoy being thrown into the lake, but you sure don't, especially when it's colder at night.

Brian steps near the end of the pier. You could feel the heat emitting from Brian, as he holds you close. You just want to stay like this. You look up at him, and in sync, he looks down at you. He smiles and looms in closely to your face. Is he going to kiss you? You couldn't wait. You wanted a sweet and dramatic departure, a sweet, subtle kiss before you drown.

He stops millimetres away from you, and whispers into your ear, "Swim, boy", and with that, he launches you from the pier and into the lake. It all happened so fast. Brian and Daisy were laughing so hard that you thought they could suffer from a hernia. 

The water was completely opposite to Brian, it was cold, wet and smelt bad. You could feel algae and seaweed brushing against your leg and arms which made you freeze in place. You now had to swim to shore. 

Once you begin pushing through the water, you could see Brian still standing there, debating whether or not he wanted to try and jump in, too. To your surprise, he does. Fully clothed, he dives in, full pelt swimming towards you.

He surfaces and your eyes meet, and the biggest grin spreads across his face as he wraps his large arm around the underside of your armpit, and he drags you to land. You really want to shower. 

"If you want to get the lake water and smell off, there's a small shower somewhere around here, it doesn't work super well, but it pumps out fresh water, which helps", Brian points in the general direction of where it could be, surprisingly, he doesn't look like he's going to head off there any time soon, nor does it look like he's going to strip off his top.

You nod with a thank you, and you go to search for it. It looks a few minutes but you found a shower head being supported by a metal pipe with concrete flooring and a drain. It reminds you of the showers you see at the beach or at the swimming pool to clean yourself before and after swimming.  
You strip and you turn the water on. It's cold, just like the lake, but it's much fresher.

You're about to finish drying off until you see something in the corner of your eye, and you shriek. It was Brian holding a towel above his head as if he were handing it to you.

"I don't want to embarrass you or look whilst you're so vulnerable, so I'm holding the towel like this, so here..." Brian worried, and so you take the towel and wrap it around yourself as quickly as possible.

"What should I do with my clothes?", you ask.

"I can wash them for you and have them dry by the time you wake up, they can dry during the morning if I hang them up", Brian claimed. 

"That would be wonderful, thank you", you smile, and Brian smiles back, and so you make your way back to base.

Shortly after, Brian accompanied you, opening another few beers to drink. You both had a small conversation, still covered by towels before heading off to your tents. You would be helping Brian hang your clothes on a clothing maiden. Brian explained he will be sleeping with Daisy, as much as she doesn't want to. Of course, you exclaim how you wouldn't mind sharing a tent if Daisy didn't want to, and all Brian did was smile. He got up, taking the tired Maxwell into the tent with him, ending the conversation with a 'good night, and sleep well'.

You enter your tent, turning on the lamp, attempting to dry off the leftover wet patches, along with your hair. You put on the shirt and shorts lying on the side of the sleeping bag, ready to head to bed, once you dried yourself. Shortly after you hear a rustle, and it was Brian, entering through the opening. You both didn't say anything to each other, the only noises and sounds were crickets and the wind.

"I did want to stay in your tent, but I didn't want to make it weird for you", Brian confessed his intention.

You could smell the beer on him.

"I am sorry I threw you into the lake, will you let me help dry you off?", he crawls closer, taking the towel you were holding and he kneels behind you, drying and playing with your hair.

"There, your hair feels dry now, and it's very soft", Brian whispers to you, you guess that he understands how loud he could be when he's had a bit to drink and he wouldn't want to keep Daisy up.

"Thank you for drying me", you lean back into him in response, and he wraps his arms around you.

Brian lets go and dims down the light, removing the damp, cold towel away from you. You turn over and lay into the sleeping bag that was settled down. You could still feel Brian's presence still there and not move.

"Could I ask you something, (Y/N)?", Brian croaked, you can see his dark silhouette turning to face you.

"Yeah, of course, you can ask me anything", you respond, tilting your head up to face him.

You could see him clearly with the dim light shining against him. He gets closer to you and looms over you, lifting his sleeveless shirt.

"Did you really want to rub my belly?", he breathed, "It's right here. I really want you to touch it if it makes you happy", Brian continued swooning, "...It makes me happy".

You gazed up at him speechless. You can see him towering over you, a clear shot of what lies under his shirt. Lots of red body hair, clearly coming from the chest region and trailing down to his bellybutton. 

You gulp, as you're about to answer, Brian, drops his shirt and collapses on top of you, burying his face into your chest, wrapping his arms around your back.

"I'm just so lonely... I have Daisy, I have Maxwell, but I just... Miss her... So much...", you feel the shirt you're wearing get wet. Is he crying?

You feel Brians embrace get tighter as he sobs, he trembles on you as you try your best to comfort him, but you had no way to get up and hug him, he was pinning you down, and so you just laid there, rubbing his head of red hair and stroking his back with the other hand.

His sobbing eventually stopped, and you could hear him suddenly fall asleep. You were able to rock him over onto his back without waking him, and soon enough, you fell asleep beside him.

Your dreams were a mixture of colours, sounds and visuals of unfinished tales that you were unable to put together to create a consistent story. 

You suddenly woke up without realising it, but your face tickles and you had a strong scent of musk against your nostrils. You look around and you realised it was hair. Bright red hair. You assumed it was Brians head you somehow slept against, but it wasn't. You tried your very best to move away, but Brian has a tight embrace on you, cuddling your head and body and pressing you into him. Your face was buried in his chest, and his vest must have risen up during the night as it was resting on top of your head. Realising this, you thought you could just lay there, enjoying the moment for now. What could you do? He was the one holding you hostage. 

Realising what was happening, his legs were roped over yours, keeping you from escaping, and your hand was lodged between his lower belly and your chest. Moving it around, his belly was soft and of course, very hairy, however, you didn't want to move it around too much, as you could disturb the beast below his belly, and you felt as if you hadn't have reached that level just yet.

You nuzzle into his chest and it's warm and soft. Each pec was strong, holding up with muscle, but has a soft touch to them against your nose from some fat. You see a nipple from the corner of your eye, and fuck was it tempting to give that sucker a lick to wake up this bear from hibernation. 

That's exactly what you did, you gave it a quick lick, with the flatness of your tongue as to not miss anything, and you glide it over. Suddenly, you hear Brian exhale a moan from his lips, directly above your ear, tightening his embrace, you're pressed even further into his chest, and he rolls over on top of you, waking himself up immediately. 

"Uh-Wh- (Y/N)? I-I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to wake up like this!", in a panic he apologises profusely, giving you an eye-up of what was dangling in front of you, his chest and plump belly, and his vest still crinkled around his neck.

"Oh, no, it's fine, I was just asleep a moment ago, too! We must have twitched at the same time or something!" You find any viable excuse to get away from being caught. 

Brian find his vest around him and blushes from embarrassment, "I apologise that you have to see me like this"

You flash him a grin, "it's fine! You're fine! You look great!", you want to get out of this awkward situation as much as possible, and so you make up an excuse about your clothes drying and you make your way out of the tent.

As you thought, the clothes are dry, thanks to the sun being up at 5 am. You check the miniature clock on the table that reads 10:59 am. As soon as it reached 11 am, the clock begins to make noise. The beeping sounds cause a reaction to Daisy's tent to twitch, and Maxwell jumps out barking and panting, followed by Daisy in her pyjamas, stretching and slowly waking from her slumber each step she takes. She makes her way to the clock and turns it off, just as you take your clothes off the line.

"Good morning, (Y/N)...", Daisy yawns.

"Morning, to you, too, Daisy", you respond, Maxwell being energetic as always runs rings around you two.

"Good morning, Maxwell", in sync you both greet the dog, stopping in its tracks, Maxwell wriggles his bum and continuously steps in the same spot, not knowing what to do, but seems very happy to be in involved.

You walk over to your tent, opening the slit and Brian is crouching looking as if he were about to leave, he raises his eyebrows in acknowledgement and smiles.

"'Morning, bud", he pats your shoulder and heads out of the tent to greet Daisy.

You get inside the tent to get changed and sort out the insides to take out and get ready to go back home. As you pack everything away, you think to yourself. It's Monday tomorrow. You really need to update your followers and watchers and produce some fresh art and stories for them, that's your income and the money that allows you to survive, you have to stop goofing off with Brian. You sigh. Back to work, it is.

You exit the tent and Brian is next to you, about to dismantle it, changed into the same clothes that dried next to yours after bringing you back to the shore. You could've swum, but why did Brian feel the need to rescue you if you could have done it yourself?

It took a good hour to get everything packed up and sorted into the car. By this time, you all were starving and ready to devour something, but everything was already packed. 

You stand there looking at the lake one last time. 

"What is this lake called, by the way?" you ask out of curiosity. 

Brian and Daisy look at each other and shrug.

"We kind of just call it the lake, we don't even know if there is a name for it, we can't even Google it", Daisy exclaims. 

You take out your phone, "okay, let's name it, then! I'm going to search up lake names and see which ones fits it the best", you spend your time on your phone for a little while, until you stumble into random words, meanings and names that vary from English to Latin and even German. 

You stumble on a name that you think sounds catchy, "Ozero. We'll call it Ozero lake, or lake Ozero! What do you think?"

Brian looks at Daisy and raises an eyebrow to see if she approves. Daisy blinks a few times as if she were trying to figure out what to say.

"That... The name makes no sense... It's Russian, isn't it? If you translated it, the lake would be called Lake Lake. You would be calling the lake Lake", she follows it up with a giggle, acknowledging how silly it sounds.

"Wait, you know Russian?", you're caught off guard by this.

"No, no, I just research on languages when I'm bored. I researched the Russian language a few days ago, I just know a few words and sentences, that's all", she seems kind of defensive as if she's warning us she's not that smart, but you all know she's probably the most intelligent being here - besides Maxwell.

"So... That's a no?", you pout.

"Well... I guess the Soviet Union had trouble coming up with a name, too and the Sahara Desert isn't much better. If you want to call it Lake Lake, then we can!" Daisy suddenly seems so passionate about it.

With a few chuckles and laughter, the three of you get into the car, ready to call it a day. Brian turned on the radio, Daisy cuddled with Maxwell, and at 1:30 pm, wanting food desperately, the four of you said goodbye to Lake Ozero, until next time.


	8. Cold

It has been a few days since you had gone to Lake Lake with Brian and Daisy, on the way home, you all stopped by a fast food restaurant and ate in the car park, talking about plans for the rest of the week, as for Brian and Daisy, Brian will be working at his construction job, and Daisy would, of course, be at school for most of the day, as for you, you had work to catch up on at home, such as uploading frequent illustrations for your followers in partnership with writing stories for them to read. 

Until the next day, you awoke with a nasty headache, but you refused to let it beat you as you swallowed painkillers and you started your regular day of waking up at 7:30 am, getting some coffee and waking up ready for 9:00 am to start. You made your hobby into a job, and you wanted to treat it as such to avoid slacking off. However, today was not a good day, but you pushed through - even though half of the day your throat was slowing becoming sore.

The following Tuesday the headache remained, even looking at more than one screen was agony on your eyes, and your nose was beginning to flow more than it should during the summer time. Do you have a cold? Influenza? Are you dying? 

Wednesday came and you were feeling like shit, the worst part of the illness is always midway through and it can only get better, but it felt like ages away. You were surviving off of tea, warm lemon, honey tea, and painkillers. Also with the help of some VapoRub on your nose and chest, you even had a horrible cough to boot.

Thursday: current day. You wake up, regular time, feeling faint and dizzy, but you've handled so much worse. You spent most of the day working on your art, but this had to be the worst day out of all so far. It reached around 4:00 pm until you heard the doorbell and what a surprise, it was Brian.

You gave him a sniffle and low raspy "hey", and his face dropped in shock.

"Hey, are you okay, buddy? You haven't replied to any of my texts, I was worried if I had done anything to upset you last weekend, so I thought I would check up on you", the worry in his voice was calming and endearing, it was nice to have someone worry - but you didn't receive any word from him up until now.

"Are you sure you didn't send it to the wrong person?", you ask, taking out your phone from your pocket.

You unlock your device, and you find out that you had left your phone on silent since the Tuesday to avoid looking at it, as more than one screen at a time made you feel like your eyes would fall out of your head. It seems like only the alarms woke you up, and that was all your phone was used for.

"Ah... I had it on silent to stop it from distracting me from work", you sigh, giving a cough afterwards and clearing your throat.

"I guess you're not okay, it sounds like you have a cold. Did I wake you?", Brian steps towards you, as if he wanted to help you out, it sounds like he wants to protect you.

"Oh, no, I've been working, long days, but I've been going to bed at a reasonable time", you announce, flailing your hand as you spoke to signal that he didn't have to come in.

"I'm worried about you, you should be sleeping more, that's how you get rid of illnesses like this. But if you want to carry on working, at least let me help by cooking you food that will help with making you feel better", at this point Brian isn't taking no for an answer.

He lunges towards you, placing his hand on the door frame. Normally, you wouldn't be scared of his size, however, this cold has made you feel so much more vulnerable than you normally would feel. Even when you both were drinking heavily for the first encounter, you weren't feeling like this.

You tremble in your spot and you nod. Are you scared or just cold? You couldn't tell anymore.

"Don't worry, during the weekend, I will have you feeling good as new", Brian gently holds your chin up giving you direct eye contact as if he were making a solid promise to you.

You smile, sniff, snort and choke on your phlegm in response. He has a lot of work to do.

Entering your small bungalow, Brian announces a plan.

"I want you to finish what you have planned for your drawings or writing for today and then I want you to get into bed to relax while I cook for you", Brian crosses his arms, asserting his presence into your own personal bubble.

It was nice having someone take control in order to care for you, but you felt as if he should chill out a bit. It was a cold, not pneumonia.

You give a solid nod to him and you make your way to the bedroom to continue working. You had a lot to catch up on, but your followers would understand if you're feeling ill... Right? Then again, they're paying for this monthly, and they expect something monthly. You have around two weeks to get this produced, polished, fully rendered and published. You only had done 30% of this already, could you half-ass it and give them discounts? You had no way of knowing how to discount people for a single month only. It was beginning to stress you out.

"Brian, I'm sorry but I won't be able to get into bed until the end of my shift in a few hours, I can't just relax when I haven't got much time left", you try your best to shout out to him from your bedroom to the kitchen, though fortunately, your house was small enough for him to hear you.

"I'll try my best to help you get better even if you can't rest, could you have an early night, just for me?", his gruff voice echoes through the building, and you feel like you want to pull your hair out of your scalp. 

"Agh... Fine, I'll go to bed early for you, but I have to work extra hard tomorrow", you turn off your computer and you slowly drag yourself into bed.

"I'm sure it's going to be a steady improvement from here, so I'll bet you'll feel better tomorrow, especially if you have some vitamin C in you", whatever he's cooking, it's strong, because you're able to smell it.

The company of Brian, the great smell of food and being able to relax a little made you slowly drift off - you were caught in the realm of being asleep but still conscious. What felt like half an hour, you hear footsteps approaching, the impact of the smell of food increased the closer Brian got, it must be ready. You open your eyes immediately, and the smell was so euphoric. 

"I know spicy food make you feel better as they clear out your nasal passages, and I can imagine nothing feels better than that" Brian presents to you Thai green curry, handing you over the tray to prop onto your lap.

You take a sip of the sauce, but sadly, you couldn't taste anything, but you could tell it was spicier than usual. This has to help you feel better. The chicken was tender and the rice was soft. There was a lot of sauce, so it was almost like a soup.

After a few minutes of eating as much as you could, Brian sat there silently watching you, though it didn't feel weird, or creepy, it felt like a father watching their kid enjoy the first meal they had cooked for them as you scarfed it down, almost enthusiastically, which is the most lively you looked since the weekend prior.

You pant as you finish slurping down the liquids and Brian takes the bowl from you, "I'll be making chicken soup tomorrow - as cliche as it is, it really does help", Brian suggested to you, wandering into the kitchen to tidy up and clean.

You lay back into bed feeling a little better, but still feeling like shit. Your back was sweaty and now you're too hot for your own good. The curry really did a number on you.

"How about you go for a shower? Or run some hot water in the sink", Brian encouraged, "if you have a steamy room it'll be easier for you to breath, and I can imagine you must feel awful being this ill", he continued. 

He was right, your hair was greasy, no matter how many times you washed it, but it might have been a good idea to try this out.

You had undressed in the bathroom and left your pyjamas on top of the toilet seat, ready for you to put back on as soon as you're dried.

15 minutes passed and you were still under the hot shower head, participating in inhaling and exhaling exercises. The steam really did work, but you're afraid of getting back into bed just to sweat again. It was almost a consternation at this point. You're tired of being ill and you're tired in general. 

You turn the shower off and you step out, and straight away you feel yourself sweating from the heat - you can breathe a little better, but you still felt disgusting. 

After drying yourself off you notice your pyjamas you had left on the toilet seat had changed. Could Brian have replaced them? He must have gone through your drawers in order to help you out, you weren't mad or embarrassed, you're both mature adults and he was only trying to help.

Changing into the clothes provided, you automatically felt better, the fresh smell of clean clothes that you didn't sweat in was amazing, and you're shocked you can smell the fabric conditioner.   
You trudged back to the bedroom, seeing Brian sitting on the side of your bed on his phone. He notices you and simply flashes you a smile. Just seeing his moustache move up slightly and his eyebrows raising made you feel better.

"I was just texting Daisy that I was here taking care of you, I'll leave you to sleep now", he stands up and opens the duvet for you to climb into, "if you need anything, please, don't hesitate to message me or call, okay?"

You snuggle deeply into your bed, your pillows felt softer and the duvet felt lighter, giving a few sniffs looking up at Brian you nod, "I will, thank you so much for this", you smile drowsily.

"I will bring some soup over in the morning as I have work, but I will check up on you after I've finished, would that be alright?", he quietly spoke, crouching to give you easier eye contact.

"Yes, that sounds wonderful, thank you, Brian", you don't know how you'd ever be able to thank him.

"Sleep well, (Y/N)", he softly spoke, and suddenly time slowed down.

Brian was inching closer to you, slowly looming over you, placing a kiss on your forehead. It was warm and his beard was surprisingly soft, he must condition it well and it smells smokey and nostalgic, bringing flashbacks to fireworks and the scent once they've fizzled out.

Brian pulls away and suddenly became erratic, "I am so sorry, I didn't mean to do that, I just get so used to taking care of people, that's my go-to goodnight", pulling away and avoiding eye contact he stands, "You probably don't see me like that, I'm sorry, I must have misinterpreted your kindness"

You have no idea what is going on, you're too ill and delirious to understand, but the only thing you could think of was: you wanted more.

"Brian", slowly Brian's erratic behaviour turns calm, and he hesitantly moves towards you, "It's all good, I don't mind" you smile assuringly.

"I want another", you beseeched before Brian respond.

Shocked, but obliged, Brian gives you another kiss on your forehead, but something felt different, it felt as if he was smiling as his lips were planted against you.

"Thank you," Brian whispers into your ear, then suddenly swipes a kiss from your lips, "I'll see you tomorrow."

All you could do was smile, and he imitates the same expression.

"I'll see you tomorrow", you speak as manoeuvre yourself into the bed into a comfortable spot.

Brian nods and winks, turning his back to you as he walks to exit your virus-infested home, before he leaves he shouts from the front door, "I've put your worn pyjamas and your bedding into the washing machine, you can turn it on whenever you feel better!"

With that, you hear the door close.

No wonder the bed felt so soft, Brian had spent the past 15 minutes finding your pyjamas and must have come across your bedding drawer full of clean bed sheets and pillow cases and must have replaced them within that short amount of time.

This man amazes you that he can do all of this within 15 minutes, and what made you feel even more at peace was that he must have laid in your bed for a little - because it smells just like him.


	9. Soup, Pie and Chocolate

You wake up earlier than normal. You feel a lot better than yesterday, but you still feel a little groggy, but you get out of bed anyway and slowly approach your computer to start your shift. You turn it on and wait for the machine to start up, whilst in the meantime, you step into the kitchen to prepare a coffee to wake you up and as soon as you turn the kettle on, the doorbell rings - it must be Brian.

You were right. With a greeting he steps into your home once again, however, this time he is holding a silver pot which was around 20cm in depth - it looks expensive, this man must love cooking in stainless steel cookware.

"I cooked this chicken soup the moment I got home, so all the harsh flavours can soften and all the ingredients could absorb the flavour of the broth. The broth also takes flavour from the chicken" he beams, showering his own creation in compliments. 

It almost sounds like he rehearsed an online article about why you should cook soup a day before, you're surprised he didn't discuss how everything transforms from very distinct flavours into one harmonious soup.

Brian props his pot on top of your cooker, all ready for you to turn on whenever you wanted it.

"Is this position fine or would you like it on another hob? The pot might be too heavy for you to lift and I wouldn't want it to burden you in any way", he lifts the soup up again, but this time you focus on his bicep.

The muscle bulges, which was somewhat of a turn on, having such a handy-man around to help you when you're ill.

"You can place it on the front burner, I won't be eating anything else today anyway", you pat Brian's shoulder as he places the pot where you wanted. 

He gives a chuckle and flexes for you, showing off his curves and muscles in his shoulders and arms. Without hesitation, you place your hand on Brian's bicep and you squeeze firmly, feeling your touch his muscle suddenly tenses and twitch - Brian must not have expected such a reaction, but he almost gloats as he smirks, flexing as hard as he could, letting out a small chuckle. He must love the complete diversity between the two of you; big, strong, outgoing, extroverted and rugged bear helping out a sick, fragile and frail, introverted and lonesome young adult that may need his rescue.

You continue to gaze in amazement, running your fingertips through his hairy arm, up to his knuckles on his hand forming a fist - to which he relaxes and allows you to explore. Even his hand really was big, and it took you up to this point to realise how big it was compared to yours. 

You slowly step aside to wander more around Brians physique. You reach his back and you plant your hand onto his shoulders. Realising what you were after he takes off his green Hawaiin shirt showing his tank top he always wears which allowed more access.

Then... He flexes both of his arms. His back went from soft dad bod to muscley, curvacious bull. Brian could be a bull instead of a bear if he really wanted to. In shock, you hesitated to explore his back. His trapezius was what caught your eye - it bulged out and went down into a curvacious slope down into his lower back. You were feeding Brian's ego at this point admiring his soup and his workout schedule. 

You couldn't tame yourself anymore and you had to feel the muscles through the skin, not his shirt - you glide your hands under his tank top and the rough bumps and dents where each individual muscle resided was different to any kind of experience you felt before, you didn't think muscles could feel like this, it must be from the fat distributed around his body that makes it soften the burlyness of his back. Even his body hair felt great to groom your hands through.

You spent the next few minutes admiring his build and frame. 

"I would love to have you as a model for me to base sketches off for my illustration", you murmur.

"Model? Like a life model?" Brian turns his head to you in curiosity.

"Yes, I've had many of them during college and university, however, they were all either young and muscular or old and skinny. I've always wanted to work on someone that has your kind of build - strong and muscular, but soft in some areas" you finish your anatomy study on Brians back.

Continuing to speak to him as you finish your 360 degrees around him, "Only if you want to, it would very much help"

"I'll have to see, we could do it during weekends if that would help you. That's when I have the time off work", Brian suggested, picking up his green short sleeved shirt from the floor.

Brian froze, "Oh.....!!", Brian bellowed, trying his best to avoid cursing, "...Gosh!! Work!", Brian successfully censored himself.

Rushing to the two, Brian announces, "I will be back around the same time as last night, cook the soup until it's hot, you can scoop your portions out into another pan and cook that if you'd like, and, and...", Brian spluttered in a rush.

"It's fine, I know how to cook, hurry off to work", you urge him out the door.

"Thank you, (Y/N), try and get some work done, and remember to inhale some steam if you're feeling stuffy", Brian reminds you.

You close the door, and you're all that's left in the house, once again.

You totally forgot you were about to make coffee, you should have asked Brian if he would like some, though it might have been too hot for him to drink in time. 

You prepare your instant coffee and you pour the kettle water into your favourite mug and you leave it on the side for a bit to cool down. During this time you're curious what the soup looked like and what ingredients Brian had used to help defeat and conquer your cold.

You open the lid and the impact of the scent hits you hard in the face, you're astounded how you could smell this - and it smelled delicious. You could even smell how cold it is, too - Brian must have kept it overnight in the fridge.

There were chunks of ingredients and chicken, mixed together making the broth making it a greenish, almost clear yellow - maybe even golden. Studying what was inside the pot, you could make out it had additional herbs, carrots, celery, onions, even kohlrabi. After a few whiffs of the aroma, you could smell garlic and even the ginger in the mix of scents in this pot. There were a few ingredients you weren't sure about, but you wanted to eat what Brian had made you, not only to make him happy and proud of you but to get better in the process.

You put the lid back on top of the pot to prevent anything from getting into it to destroy the masterpiece the bear has graced you with. You take your coffee and you make your way back into your bedroom to do a few hours of work.

You thought you could update your Twitter and Instagram story apologising to your followers with lack of updates and statuses - thankfully, no one has unfollowed you yet, however it could change if you went a few more days without interacting with your fans.

A few hours passed - originally, you had four finished sketches of a detailed threesome involving two big, burly men and a twink that was half their size in height and weight, with additional alternative versions, and you had outlined two of them with the third version half done. By the end of your first shift, you were able to finish off outlining the third and fourth image.

With a stretch, and a quick glance at the time on your taskbar, it was 13:26 pm, and for the first time in a few days, you actually felt hungry, and you were ecstatic about it, before checking the layers and finished inked stages you could faintly smell the soup from the kitchen, and the moment you had finished, you launched yourself from your chair and you found yourself in the kitchen as if you had teleported - it's as if your body moved on its own.

You took four generous ladle-sized portions from the pot and into a smaller pan. The steel you used that was next to Brians own cookware was different in comparison - yours looked grungy, foggy and scratched, whereas Brians looked as if it were new. He obviously takes great care of whatever he owns. You begin to feel bad for a lot of things. He can cook, he's helpful and kind, and he looks after his possessions. You aspire to become just like him, and you think maybe you should start right now whilst you're feeling better and have the motivation.

You turn the hob onto a medium heat and it only took around ten minutes for the liquids and chunks to bubble. You lean over the pan inhaling the steam that rises. You could breathe easier than the past few days, however, your nose was still stuffy. After a few minutes, you poured the soup from the pan into a bowl, wrapping a kitchen towel around it to stop the heat from burning your hands, getting out a soup spoon from one of your drawers and you carried it back to your bedroom to eat.

You restlessly and awkwardly stumble into your chair and you place the soup onto the desk. You tap the spoon on the rim of the bowl getting rid of the excess liquids and you blow onto the metal to prevent it from burning your tongue. You then begin to try the soup out, scooping around the edges of the bowl where it had cooled down and you sip on the warm broth. Despite you not being able to taste much it tasted delicious. 

The broth wasn't too thick and it wasn't watery either. You felt like you could eat this during winter and you would love to be cuddled up on the settee with Brian and a warm furry throw covering your lap, watching a comedy, adventure or even an animated film.

As you continue to drink the broth thoughtlessly, you bite into a piece of chicken, which was soft and juicy - it must have absorbed some of the broth overnight and the flavours must have mixed. It was so good, you had never tasted anything like this, and you never knew chicken could become so soft. 

Brian's smile comes to mind immediately, along with short flashes of memories you had together such as him arriving at your door with the pot this morning, the Thai curry he had cooked yesterday, and the fun adventure you both had at the Lake with Daisy and Maxwell.

Suddenly you remember him towering over you with his shirt up and the next morning when your face was buried into his chest. Your nose felt as if it were going to bleed again just like the time where Brian came round and you wanted to talk to his 'ego issues'. You remember how understanding and apologetic he was. The warmth of his hands on your shoulders as you sobbed in front of him, and the firm grasp he had on your entire presence wrapping you into his large being for comfort. 

You start to feel weird; how this soup is making you think of this particular person. Yes, this person made the soup, of course, but a soup that was merely made a day prior held so many memories throughout the past week. Who knew this soup could have such an effect on you.

The vegetables were soft and the spices opened up your sinuses due to the spiciness and the strong flavour, especially the rosemary and ginger. You finished the bowl and slouched back into your seat, taking a deep breath and exhaling warm air from the heat. Your mouth was tingling from warmth and spices and you felt as if you could nap right about now, but after five minutes you felt pumped and energised again to carry on with your work.

Again a few hours went by until you looked at the taskbar clock again, filling your time with drinking water, colouring the art you had produced and peeing clear. It was 4:27 pm, Brian was half an hour later than what he said he would be, however you weren't at all worried. He doesn't always have to be on time constantly, he can dawdle if need be.

Within a few minutes, you finished off the flat colouring of the second image. You spent most of the day sorting out the background and finishing the first image, which you could easily copy and paste the shading and lighting, and then readjust for the rest of the three illustrations. This should only take a few extra days to finalise and render, and then you're ready to upload and receive the payments from fans and followers. It was a close call, but it took less time than you thought it would, you'll have to write a few extra chapters pretty quickly for those that were super interested in your story, along with uploading last months Patreon uploads.

As you sat in your chair just staring at your work for a few minutes the doorbell rang, that must be Brian. You stagger to your feet, sitting down for so long had made your lower body numb. You slowly move towards the door, halfway there your legs and feet begin to tingle. You feel the blood rushing around your legs and your feet feel like they're twitching; the feeling tickles but is also very painful.

You reach the door and you invite the man in, he's holding bags of shopping to your surprise. Brian makes his way into your kitchen and places the bags onto the side. He rubs his hands together and peers into the soup pot and glances at you.

"I see you took some, how was it?", he raises his eyebrows awaiting a response from you.

All you could do was smile, which turned into a grin, "It was delicious, Brian, thank you for making it for me".

Brian grins as well, picking up the pot and taking the ladle you had places on the sides for you to use again if you wanted a second helping. Brian browses around in his plastic bags which contained various amounts of food and items. He takes out some zip-lock bags and begins to fill them up with the soup. 

You just stand there gawking at what he is doing, eyeing up and counting the bags he continuously fills up... Three bags... Four bags... Suddenly the pot was able to fill up five zip-lock bags. The man turns his head to you, pointing at the gathering of filled bags on your countertop. 

"How many of these would you like in your fridge to have later? You can freeze the rest", he asks, "Just don't have any for tonight, I'll be cooking something else for you to have, so you can have the rest for tomorrow?", Brian continues.

"I'll have two in the fridge, then, both of them for tomorrow", you answered.

You watch Brian in confusion as to why he is doing all of this for you, and as if he knew, he answers your concern.

"When cooking the curry last night, I had noticed you didn't have much food in your fridge or freezer, so I thought I would shop and cook for you for tonight and freeze the rest for you to pick out whenever you wanted", after stocking the bags in the freezer he stands tall, looking down at you with a small smile.

"Are you sure you want to cook for me? It's a Friday night, and you just had work, I can imagine you're exhausted.", you splutter in amazement, this man has a lot of stamina.

"Oh, I should be fine, buddy, I enjoy helping you out. It's good company, not just for me, but for someone like you who lives alone", you see Brian browsing around the plastic bags, picking out items for the meals he plans to cook for you.

"What about Daisy?", your real concern is taking this kids father away.

"She should be fine, she's a strong girl, she gets it from me!", he chuckles half-heartedly, "I have food in the fridge for her to heat up and eat, though she knows how to cook, despite her young age."

"When I was her age I'd be playing video games or making shit out of cardboard", you laugh; but Brian laughed harder.

"We all have our hobbies! I used to like stacking bricks when I was a child, now look at me now, I've made it my job!", Brian nudged your shoulder with his elbow, smizing at you.

Brian lifts up the plastic bags from the floor and places them in front of the two of you. You see leeks, spring onions, regular onions, garlic, a whole family! Brian lifts the bags from the back and shuffles them all out onto the counter until there were tins, vegetables, sachets, meat, pasta and even some sweet treats which he most likely has bought for Daisy.

"I am going to be making a bunch of dinners for you, you just have to tell me which you would like to eat, okay?", Brian moves some sachets and tins forward, "I plan on making chilli, chicken-leek pie, and a creamy pasta bake, what would you like for tonight's dinner?", he pats the tins and sachets, staring at you awaiting a response.

You look at everything, puckering your lips and inhaling, making a kissy sound you would make at a cat to get its attention. You've decided.

"Chicken-leek pie, I'm curious how you would make it", you raise an eyebrow as if to challenge him.

"Easy, could you get me the milk out of your fridge and some jugs, sous chef?", Brian confidently straightens his back, easily making him taller.

You give a nod, acknowledging his commands and you take out the milk and find some jugs in a shelf nearby. Brian had taken out nearly all of your pans. This will definitely be a party.

"Hey, (Y/N), do you have a soup maker and a slow cooker?" Brian was sorting out the pans from smallest to biggest.

"I have a slow cooker, but not a soup maker", you respond, placing your jugs and milk onto the countertop.

"Do you have a handheld blender?" Brian faces you, crossing his arms with one hand stroking his beard.

"I do, yes, what will we need it for?", you cock your head to the side curiously.

"I use a soup maker for the base for the chilli, but a handheld blender will do just fine, don't worry!", Brian smiles as you go on a short side quest for the handheld blender.

Brian takes out some of your cutting boards and a few knives and shifts them over to your side, keeping a few over to his area. He really knows where you put everything, are you really that predictable? 

"I would like you to start cutting all of the vegetables, such as leeks, spring onion and onions, and open some cloves of garlic please, sous chef", Brian cackles, "I'll be cutting up the meat"

With a nod, you begin to wash out the leeks and you start chopping up the vegetables. Brian had already finished cutting up the chicken and he had placed them into the pan, with that, he quickly cuts apart some bacon that he had bought and chucked it in the same pan. He opened a sachet of chicken and leek pie mixture and adds it in a jug of milk and stirs it.

"Now we just need to add the spring onions and leeks, you all ready there, buddy?", Brian looks over to you and pats your back in a friendly gesture, "You're doing well"

You push the chopping board of leeks and spring onion over to him and he grabs a few handfuls and places them into the pan to cook alongside with the chicken.

"This should take a little bit, so I will start on the chilli", Brian opens up a bag of carrots and swede, a tin of chopped tomatoes, and takes the whole onion you chopped and throws them into a pan.

He browses your cupboards for spices and returns with chilli flakes, mixed herbs and some beef stock cubes. He then fills the pan up with water and leaves it to boil, and by that point, the chicken and bacon have already been cooked and tops them up with the pie mixture.

"Heh, I really like cooking when I have help, Daisy is always working on her studies, it kind of gets lonely just cooking by yourself", Brian's cheeks turn red as he gives a low chuckle.

"It's nice to have someone cook for me", you respond, jabbing Brians side lightly with your elbow.

Brian laughs, he always makes you feel better knowing he appreciates your sense of humour.

Soon enough, Brian browses once again for some glass dishes to put the chicken and leek in, along with the dishes he finds the slow cooker you had said you owned. 

The chicken and leek pie was then poured into the dish, and Brian places it into the oven.

"If you really want to add a pastry top, you can", he turns the oven on, "it should be done in half an hour, could you pour out 200g of pasta into a glass dish and pour this tin of pasta bake for me, buddy?"

You realised a bunch of this cooking wasn't exactly from scratch, was this man a fake? Does he really cook? Was that brisket a fake, too? Was the soup he 'made' for you in a tin that he bought in excess?

Though you did as you said and you measured out the pasta and fill to the brim of the sauce, filling the jar with water and pouring it back into the dish to get the remainders out.

Brian stirred the chilli base and sprinkled some salt, pepper and some gravy granules to thicken the consistency. After a while, he plugged in the handheld blender and blended everything up until it was smooth. Whilst you waited, you grated some cheese on top of the pasta dish, ready to throw into the oven.

You watched Brian put the base in with the ladle and then put a small handful of beef mince, adding in a ladle full again, and then some mince. He repeated these two steps until the mince was gone and the slow cooker was almost full - he opened a tin of chopped tomatoes again, added in some leftover onions and gave the pot a stir. He plugged the machine in, turned the settings on high, and with a sigh, he placed his hands on his hips.

"That should be done within four hours", he smiles down at you, "want to put the pasta bake in? It'll take 40 minutes for it to be ready"

You put the pasta dish in and took out the chicken and leek pie. The scent was delicious. It was creamy and the smell of bacon waft through your kitchen. You leave it on the side for it to cool down before you dived in for dinner, by this time, it was almost 6:00 pm. 

"Hey, Brian, if you claim to be a cook, why would you use tins, jars and sachets instead of making it from scratch?", Brian looked caught off guard with a question and he lowers an eyebrow.

"Because it's easier to cook a bunch of meals this way, y'know? If we started from scratch, we would still be making the chicken-leek dish." he sighs, "just because you use tins and jars, doesn't mean you're any less of a good cook. It's a shortcut, I'd like to think"

"I'm sorry, I should've thought about that", you sigh back, "don't get me wrong, the food smells delicious, thank you for cooking for me"

"I'm happy to help, this should keep you lasting for another week", Brian smizes, sorting through the pans and mess, "the pie should be ready for you to eat now, I'll finish cleaning up your kitchen, I'll have to install a dishwasher for you, it'll save you so much time!"

Was Brian even thinking of installing you a dishwasher? How big is this guys heart? Is it made of gold? Diamond?

"No, I'll help you out, don't be silly!", you swing your hip, bumping him in the thigh in a signal for him to make room for you to help clean and dry.

The drying took around ten minutes, which was so much faster than what it would have taken Brian to do on his own. You both stand around in the kitchen, holding your plates of food, just talking about life. Once you finished off your dinner, the pasta was already done and you placed it right next to the chicken and leek pie, ready for the two to cool off and freeze. The slow cooker had another three hours until it was done, but you would still be awake at that time, you could unplug the slow cooker and put it in the freezer the next morning if you keep it where it's at once it's finished cooking.

A short time later, Brian announces he should get home before it gets too late. You feel as if you'd get a little lonely the moment he leaves. His company has made you feel so much better, despite a sore throat and cough still being present, but the sniffling has somewhat subsided. Brian gets up and with a stretch, he heads towards your front door.

"Hey, Brian, wait! What about the extra shopping bags you have left?", you felt as if you had to remind him.

"Oh! They're yours! I'm sorry", Brian turns to you flustered, "I should have put them away, I can do that for you now if you'd like?", He proceeds to walk towards the kitchen.

"No, that's not what I meant, didn't you buy some items to take back home, like the chocolate for Daisy?", you shoot up from the settee to chase after him, you hope he doesn't feel bad enough to pack away the things he bought for you.

"Oh, no, that chocolate was for you. I know how stressful it is to come down ill; especially when I was the one who threw you into the lake, that's my apology", Brian continues to make his way into the kitchen and hands you over the chocolate that had been waiting on the side since the moment he had arrived.

You were gobsmacked, you felt your heart beating faster, giving others chocolate is normal between friends, but this felt completely different. You don't know what was coming over you. You just stood there looking at Brian and then the treat in his hand, and then Brian again.

All Brian could do was laugh, walking towards you he grabs your hand and places the chocolate in it, staring at you into your eyes. There was silence between you two.

"Agh- Thank you", you choke, managing to speak the words of appreciation.

Brian stifles a laugh and beams a smile, "you're welcome, (Y/N)."

You both continue to look at each other's eyes; there was silence again. The gaze you were both projecting was getting intense and you both couldn't help but smile at each other. Are you both going to kiss? You feel as if you could go for one right now. Lunge right in and take a quick peck on this mans lips! But you didn't. You didn't feel as if the time was right just yet. 

Instead, you both shuffle closer, Brians hand still on top of the chocolate with the other still cupping underneath yours. Both of your bodies touch and as slowly as possible, trying not to startle you and as if to give you time to back away, Brian lets go of your hands and wraps them around your body, and you did the same. Just hugging in silence for a few seconds. Embracing tightly a few seconds later, and ending it with a long rub on each others back. You've never felt such a powerful emotion like this before. Your whole body feels lonely without him.

"Thank you, again, Brian", you thank, out of breath.

"You're welcome, (Y/N). Thank you, too." Brian smiles softly.

This smile was completely different than any other smile he has given you. You feel like you couldn't let him walk out that door, you demand more of those hugs! You need him to stay an extra hour so you can mentally prepare him to leave, but by this time, you were both already at the door. Brian opens the entrance and steps outside, turning around back towards you and he waves.

"Night, buddy, sleep well!", and then, Brian turns around and walks away.

With that, you close the plank of wood that separates the both of you; and you are alone.


	10. It Was Unforeseen

The last time you had seen or even spoken to Brian was that Friday he shopped for you. It was now Sunday. Did you weird him out by hugging him that intensely? He never specified that he was coming back, however, you were a little worried about him, but you didn't want to creep him out by asking him where he was or how he was doing. Though you were feeling much better, and the food you had both prepared and that had been stored in the freezer was delicious now that you got your taste back.

You wanted to thank him personally, so you decided to greet him after you finished cleaning the house. Now that you're feeling better and you have completed this months pin-up illustration, you had no excuse left to avoid cleaning up, though at the same time you wanted to see Brian. Now that you thought about it, you remember asking him to be your model, maybe that could be why he hasn't spoken to you? Is he creeped out or embarrassed? He couldn't be, he didn't seem to detest the idea.

You decided to send him a message via DadBook, instead.

"Hey, Brian! I haven't heard from you in a few days, I just thought I'd let you know how I'm doing! Thanks to your genius guide to getting better, I did actually get better! Who would've thought? 

Also are you still interested in becoming my muse?"

You put your phone down and you get ready to start cleaning. After a few minutes, you hear your phone chime, though you didn't want to respond right away, so you continued to clean. You wanted to seem busier than you already were.

It had been a few hours, time just flew by, you had cleaned and disinfected the kitchen, mopped the wooden floors and hoovered the rest. That reminds you! Brian must still be waiting for a reply.

You check your phone, and to your disbelief, it wasn't Brian? It was an email for discounts at a restaurant you had subscribed to many weeks ago when you moved here.

That was very unlike Brian, he would've contacted you right now. You check his availability and it has said he had been online 15 hours ago. It was already 4 pm - he was awake around 1 am last night? Is he still asleep?

You decided to give him a little visit and a quick thank you and reminder that you're still alive and would very much want his company.

The next ten minutes you dawdled to Brian's home located in the spherical shape which was the actual col-der-sac. You revved up your adrenaline and thought over what you wanted to say on repeat, and then you ring the doorbell.

Daisy opened up the door. She looked awful, as in tired and drained, though she tried her best to look energetic, it came off as trying too hard, and looked just as draining.

"Hey, (Y/N), what brings you here?", she softly spoke, clinging onto the door for support.

"Hey, Daisy, I was wondering if Brian was home, but thinking about it, I feel like I should be worrying more about how you're feeling. You look like death", you softly spoke back, like as if you were speaking to a small animal.

"Death doesn't have a physical form so I wouldn't know what death would look like, but if you're talking about a metaphor then I suppose you're right", was she serious?

"I think you're too ill to try and be smart right now, Daisy", you had to tell her, it's like she can't act like a kid, she tries too hard to come across as being intelligent and witty.

"Yeah, you're right", Daisy let's out a weak giggle, "actually I've been looking after dad since he came home from yours on Friday, I think he might have caught something you had"

Is Brian sick? All because of you?

"Is he doing okay? Can I help with anything?", you try not to sound panicked but it was too late, it was showing in your face.

"Yeah, he's doing fine. His immune system is pretty good, so this cold must be affecting him a bit - he constantly complains about it", she rests her head on the door, "I guess that's what you get when you work in construction, breathing in weird things can buff your system up"

Daisy closes her eyes, she looks like she's going to sleep.

"Have you been tired? Are you sure I can't help at all?", you really want to help.

"No, no, I couldn't ask you for that (Y/N), I finished my homework on Friday, so I've been free to help him, just all of the coughing and sneezing has kept me awake", Daisy sighs, "I'm not good at cooking either, all of the soups online are too vague when it comes to cooking and I don't want to make dad iller, but this is good practice." 

She's smart but can't cook? Who would've thought? Not you, obviously. 

It hurts you just looking at her like this, but you at least want to make your offer stand just in case, "well, if you change your mind you know where I live, right? No matter what time of day, just come knocking if you need me" 

Daisy looked relieved after hearing you say that, her face went from tense to relaxed and just tired in general instead of burned-out. 

"Thank you, (Y/N), I'll try and not bother you as much as I should, but I'll keep your offer in mind", Daisy stands up straight and shifts backwards, "well, talk later, I can keep you updated if you'd like" 

"I'd like that, thank you, Daisy", you give her a nod to acknowledge her kind gesture, and with that, Daisy closed the door. 

You breathe a sigh of relief that at least Daisy is looking after him, even if it's just an attempt by a 10-year-old, but she isn't just a 10-year-old; she's a smart 10-year-old. Though when you leave the area to walk back to yours, you realised you still had a bottle of anxiety inside of you that is ready to explode. Brian came to help you get better and what do you do to repay him? You give him your fucking cold.

You return home, attempting to spend the rest of your evening updating your social media and writing shitty fanfiction for your followers to fawn over. This was a reader-insert about the readers and a big, bearish, hairy Viking - like, who even writes this stuff?

A few hours had passed until you looked at the clock and it had already gone past 7 and you sit there in your chair without having anything for dinner, writing a chapter purely describing the Vikings nether-regions and how good it feels to the reader to do whatever they are doing.

You were just about to contemplate about what you were going to make, obviously something quick and simple because you were dying from hunger at this point; and then the bell rang.

You sigh, and then groaned, dramatically flinging your head back you drag yourself sloppily towards the door, with no energy whatsoever. You open the door and it's Daisy, she looks like she's about to start crying.

"(Y/N), please help me, my dad has a fever and I don't know what to do! I've done everything the internet has told me!", suddenly, you gained your energy back.

You spend some time locking up all the doors and turning off lights around the house apart from the lounge to give the illusion you were still home and you both went on your way to look after Brian.

You return back to the bear's house and Daisy lets you in, she heads upstairs and of course, you follow her, preparing for the worst. You head into Brians room and the scent is completely different than what you're used to - he would smell like wood and aftershave, cologne, all of the manly goodness you could think of, however, you could smell the sweat, a hint of body-odour and the faint smells of his deodorant which had been applied a few days prior, with it mixed all together, the delicious scent of his cologne didn't have as much appeal as the situation Brian was in.

His face was flushed red, forehead drenched in sweat and he was crawled up clinging to a pillow in a fetal position. He looks so helpless. You get down to your knees, becoming level with him; you feel the heat radiate off of him. Suddenly his eyes open feebly, locking his eyes onto you as he blinks softly, seemingly in a daze as if he's trying to recognise you. You comfort him by wiping the sweat off of his forehead with the back of your hand, and you can feel him trembling weakly.

Seeing such a strong and masculine man tremble from under you makes your heart throb in sadness. He is defenceless and you need to help him. 

"He tends to wake up and suddenly fall back asleep - I think I've figured out that it is influenza after looking up the symptoms online", Daisy rests against the doorframe, just like Brian, she's exhausted from taking care of him.

"Daisy, could you tell me how and when this started, please?", You inch closer to Brian, his brows suddenly furrow in a wince.

"If I remember, before our trip to the lake, dad had said he was stressed with work and wanted to go to Lake-Lake as a get-away relaxation weekend and thought he could invite you as some extra company to ease himself, which is also why he drank a bit; he seems to rely on alcohol to fall asleep more recently whenever he's stressed with work", you nod in acknowledgement. 

You shift your position to your bottom after sitting on your knees, getting yourself comfortable as Brian closes his eyes, drifting off to sleep again, "Yes, go on"

"I remember dad said he had so much work to do after work during the Monday. After a few days he had said to me he wanted to check up on you as it had felt like you had been ignoring him and that dad had always been the one to initiate a conversation with you, and so he went to visit", hearing Daisy say this made you twitch, it sounds about right; Brian was always the one to talk to you first.

You reach to Brians hand that is still clinging onto his pillow, it seems as if he's cuddling the cushion as if it were a person.

"He came back home saying you had a cold and how he was the one that made you fall ill, he was devastated. It was only the next day he seemed off that when he returned home he was showing symptoms of a cold, but I fear it's worse than that", Brian must have wanted you to help him chill out, but the confrontation you had with him probably made him feel worse.

Not only that, he got drunk during the weekend you both and Daisy had together. You're head over heels for this guy, yet you couldn't write him a single message on DadBook with the phone that was constantly by your side. Seeing his messages make you smile and your heart flutter, but you couldn't have done the same back? You rely on this man far too much. Despite the stress from work, he made time out of his busy schedule just to check up on you that Thursday afternoon and he didn't show any signs of weakness. That must be why he wanted you to go to bed instead of carrying on with your work to avoid you getting sicker? Could that be why he hugged you for so long and why he posed for you? Was he in a daze? Was he that out of it that he let you do whatever you wanted? 

"I've read that stress compresses the immune system which makes it difficult for the body to kill off anything potentially harmful", which makes sense now, Brian is a hard worker; he works too hard in fact.

"Daisy, I can look after your dad tonight if you want to relax for a bit. I feel awful being the cause of this and I want to fix it, so just take care of yourself and Maxwell, and I can take care of Brian for you. I can even cook dinner if you need it", you grip harder onto Brians' hand, your throat is clenching up and you know what's going to happen, you just don't want Daisy to be around to watch.

Daisy was a smart girl, she obviously knew what was going on, "That's fine, thank you for helping me with this (Y/N); I need the rest"

Then, you were left alone with Brian, with Daisy closing the door behind her, you were separated from the outside world. Your hands tremble. It was unstoppable. You were pathetic. Useless. You couldn't do anything right. You sobbed. Your throat tightening and loosening, making loud heaving sounds as you cry, suddenly hyperventilating as you breathe faster - and then you stop. 

Your mind automatically telling you that this was not what Brian needs right now. He doesn't need you being so weak. He doesn't want you to put yourself in a position where you're weaker than he is because then he would have to save you again. You grit your teeth to stop yourself from making sounds until you weren't crying anymore. 

Suddenly Brian's eyes open, still half asleep he mutters your name, "how did you get here?", he whispers, raising his hand up to wipe the tears from your cheek, "Why are you crying, sweetheart?", his words made your heart pulsate intensely.

How could you even reply to this, his condition must have been making him delirious and unaware of what he is saying, so you try to use this against him, "what are you talking about, dear? You're the one that is crying"

With that, Brians' eyes well up and a tear streams down his cheek and disappears his moustache, "you're right, I'm sorry", his final words before he falls unconscious.


	11. Care for the Bear

You had remained in your spot for a while whilst Brian stayed unconscious, sleeping and occasionally snoring whilst you allowed Daisy to relax.

You had finished most of the work you had to upload anyway, so looking after these two plus Maxwell wasn't going to damage to you or your schedule; and besides, you could just write the chapters in your phone and send them to yourself to proofread later.

You check your phone and an hour had already passed. You feel like you could stay the night just to make sure Brian feels better, but you don't want to overstay your welcome - you have nothing else to do though, so you may as well be bored with some company. You decide now would be a good idea to cook some food for both you and Daisy, assuming that she hasn't eaten yet.

You gently let go of Brians' hand and slip out of his grasp without waking him up. You're only leaving for some food and he's also a grown-ass man that can take care of himself; but why are you still so worried?

As you just about leave the room you could smell a type of sauce that tickled your senses, and so you meet Daisy in the kitchen, who obviously, isn't relaxing like she should be doing!

"Hey, Daisy, I thought you said you would chill for the night", you stand next to her, watching her cook, looking at the ingredients it looks like spaghetti bolognese.

"I was but I haven't eaten yet, and I assume you haven't either", she literally can read minds.

"You're right, I'm freaking starving!", you watch Daisy stir, seeing mince, garlic, onions, tomatoes, all of the regular ingredients - so why does she say she can't cook?

"Could you try a bit for me, (Y/N)? The spoons are in that drawer", she points, and you gladly obey.

Taking a spoon out of a nearby drawer, you scoop around the outer edge of the bolognese sauce, blowing on it a little and you eat it. It was delicious. Is this kid insane? She's talented, smart and can cook, but she's so humble about it.

"You're crazy, this is delicious, why would you say you're a terrible cook?", you go in for seconds, but Daisy battles you with a wooden spoon and nudges you away.

"Because I gave some food to dad and a little while later he was sick, so it has to do with my cooking, right?", you fend her off and sneak off another scoop, "those scoops will be taken out of your dinner bowl!"

You devour the bolognese instantly, "But your dad might not be able to take food, for now, right?"

"He just has a really bad cold, though, right? I could eat when I had a cold", this poor naive child, despite her intelligence, she has to not have an understanding of something.

"Daisy, I think your dad might have the flu, from the stress he had at work and taking care of me - it might not be my cold he has but something he had developed over time from stress", Daisy's face looked pained, you think she realises why he hasn't been eating her food.

"So I've been making my dad ill by giving him food when he has an upset stomach?", she looks very distressed, "I thought spicy foods were supposed to help with colds, so I gave him extra spicy soup for help him with what, but if you have the flu, spices don't work well, do they?"

"No, they don't, but you were on the right track of giving him soup, though. I'd say lay off the spices and give him something to eat over time - having too much will make him want to expel it", you try your best to calm her down by rubbing her shoulder, "It's going to be okay, I'm not leaving until Brian feels better, because he took care of me, and I want to do the same for him"

"So what should we make him?", she looks up at you in relief, and her eyes glisten, almost as if he knows what you're going to say.

In unison, you both laugh, "chicken soup? Duhhh!", though just in case you open your phone up to check what is acceptable to have during the flu. As Daisy continues to cook the sauce and begins to boil a pan full of spaghetti, you nudge her to show her the results.

"It says to sip clear drinks to keep the fluids up, though you can try chipped ice, juices, sports drinks, ginger ale, clear broths, gelatin and ice pops - but only use clear liquids", you read out what the screen showed you and Daisy sighs.

"Dad is going to be so disappointed, he loves eating..." she doesn't make him sound very healthy,

"I'd say let's just give him water and ice to start off with, just to bring his fever down, and maybe a weakened down juice so he still gets mostly water, right?", you put your phone away, rubbing your hands to show your eager determination to find glasses, ice and fruit juice.

"The glasses are in the shelf above the drawer you got the spoons out of and the juices are below the sink - I'm sure you can guess where the ice is", you follow the instructions, and as soon as you got everything Daisy turns to you again, "I heard ibuprofen is good for reducing fevers, you can find it in the cabinet above the sink in the bathroom upstairs - it's out medicine cupboard!"

You head upstairs, arms full of both drinks and a bowl full of chipped ice, you place them on the bedside table where Brian laid and you sought out the fever-breaker in the bathroom. Once you received it and being amazed by the number of legal drugs Brian possesses, you attempt to gently wake him.

"Hey, Brian, I have something to help you with your fever and I have some ice for you to eat, it'll be good to keep your fluids up and to cool you down", you gently whisper, trying not to startle the vulnerable man.

He sits up, "thank you, (Y/N), you honestly didn't have to do this", he mutters out, you could hear the pain in the poor man's voice.

"Nonsense; here take a sip of water with this", you held out the recommended amount of ibuprofen and Brian weakly takes it from you, instead of energetically throwing it into his mouth like he normally would do, he gently puts it on his tongue and sips the water you held out for him.

"Just having you here makes me feel better", such kind words, Brian even takes the bowl of ice off of you and begins to suck on the frozen water, his face went through so many expressions from the pain, to surprise and the face of disgust from how cold it is.

Brian then gives you back the bowl, to which he was only able to consume half of it. 

"You have water and juice here whenever you want to drink them, but don't do it too fast - make sure you sip them", you put the bowl of ice down next to the drinks, in an hour or so it'll just be more water for Brian to drink.

Brian slowly slouches down onto his back and curls up in his duvet still facing you, ready to go back to sleep, "thank you again, (Y/N), and tell Daisy, too, she's trying so hard"

"I will, and I'm sure she knows it, too", you whisper, smiling at him, and in response, he uses his energy to smile back at you - just knowing he's trying means a lot to you as well.

"I'll let you get to sleep, then", you look down at Brian with a smile, as warm as you could get it, and you subconsciously rub his belly as if you were looking after a child.

His stomach jolts and tenses, his muscles constricting as if he were about to be sick, and he chuckles, his eyebrows upturned.

"Normally I would enjoy a belly rub but right now I'm so sensitive, I don't think now would be a good time", he continues smiling, almost apologetically.

"No, no, I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking, but when you're better you're going to get to have as many belly rubs as you want, okay?", you stand up straight, your promise made it sound like it was your reward instead of Brian's.

You see him close his eyes and you decide now was your move to get out of there and have some dinner with his daughter that had made a meal from scratch.

Downstairs Daisy was sitting on the settee, with her dinner on a tray in her lap. Giving you constant eye contact she robotically moves her arm towards the seat next to her, offering it to you, "have a seat, sir", she playfully mimics a deadpan expression boss; it sounds like she's going to fire me.

You take the tray on the side of the counter and you sit beside her, Daisy picks up the TV remote and flicks her wrist whilst watching you, "let's watch some Long Haul Paranormal Ice Road Ghost Truckers", after a few seconds her face turns from devious to confused, her motion in her wrist slowly comes to a stop.

You finally say it.

"What? Long Haul Paranormal Ice Road Ghost Truckers? What's that?", Daisy's face dropped in shock, her mouth agape, giving you the look of disbelief.

"You've never heard of Long Haul Paranormal Ice Road Ghost Truckers? How can you be my dad's new husband and my new father if you don't even know what that is?", the last part threw you off, your throat clenched and you couldn't speak, but you had to strain an answer.

"Wh- Brian and I aren't close enough for that, what makes you think that?", you strained too hard for her to believe you.

Daisy laughs, "Oh it's fine, my dad is a catch, no wonder you fell for him, but I think dad may have taken a liking to you, too - which is odd, because he normally talks about how he isn't ready to move on", Daisy takes a bite of her bolognese and continues to speak once she finished, "I think you have melted the ice around dad's old, hairy heart"

Has he taken a liking to you? Really? You haven't done anything special, or memorable for that matter. He has only known you for around two weeks, there's no way he's interested.

Daisy grins a devious smile, "I can talk to him about you both going on a date if you'd like", you don't even know if Daisy is telling the truth or not.

She has no reason to lie, but she has no reason to support you on your quest to romance her dad either. You sit there confused with your spaghetti getting cold in your lap.

"I think I'll try and do this by myself, Daisy. I don't want to take a shortcut in this relationship", you admit it, you'd rather go slow and let both of your feelings grow rather than being pushed together by another.

"That's admirable, my dad will be a lucky man", she continues to eat her way through her meal.

"Hey, can I ask how you knew I had feelings for your father?", with that final question to the end of the conversation, you begin to dig into the tepid bolognese in your lap.

Daisy simply laughs and turns to you, "it was obvious"

After a few long episodes of Long Haul Paranormal Ice Road Ghost Truckers, you had to applaud, it had the right amount of drama, suspense, thriller and supernatural elements. You didn't even think this show would work, but it does for some reason.

"Woah, this show is intense, it actually makes the paranormal elements believable! I mean, I believe in the paranormal anyway, but this makes me believe there is something more out there, like aliens, too!" you immediately grab the controller and change to the next episode.

"I mean, we can't prove it until you've experienced it, but I've heard spirits are normally attracted to those who keep an open mind - so who knows, you may experience it someday, (Y/N)", Daisy gets up to put away the dishes you both had left on the floor.

"Even aliens?", you don't care if you sound like a child, you wanted Daisy to tell you that aliens might even exist and that you may see one someday; you'd feel super smart believing in something like this if Daisy agrees you might meet them.

"Yes, (Y/N)," you hear the dishes clank around in the dishwasher and the door closing afterwards, "even aliens" she finishes. 

Accomplishment. You'll get to meet an alien eventually, Daisy can't lie, she's too intelligent. 

You hear Maxwell run down the stairs, running in a serpentine motion around the legs of the coffee table and yourself, swiftly scurrying over to Daisy; you assume he just wants the attention and you don't blame him. Brian is too ill to cuddle with him so you and Daisy have to do. You'll have to fight for Brian's affection once he's feeling better with Maxwell. Curled up in Brian's arm as Maxwell is lying in the other. 

Daisy tries her best to dodge kicking Maxwell in the face as she's carrying heavy objects around the kitchen, "Maxwell, go cuddle with (Y/N), I'll be finished soon, I need to clean up a little more!"

Arrff!

Maxwell responds and comes running towards you, trampling over your feet repeatedly - of course, it doesn't hurt, but it seems like he wants help getting onto the settee.

Arrff!

Maxwell is asking for help and so you scoop him up into your arms and cradle him in the way you could imagine Brian would be holding you. You start to daydream how comfortable he would be.

Aaarf!

Maxwell snaps you out of your daze and you look down at him, "what's that? You can read my thoughts?"

Aahhf! Arruuufff. 

"What're you talking about, boy? There's no way I'm thinking about that", you deny everything. 

Arararaff!!

You pick him up and you place him onto the seat next to you facing him away, his derpy expression not changing as he wriggles his tail with his tongue out, panting in excitement, "that's enough mind reading, for now, Maxwell" 

You hear the dishwasher turn on and Daisy joins you both, sitting in the spot between the two of you, "even Maxwell knows your true feelings, (Y/N)", Daisy picks the corgi up and places him on her lap, his stance, expression and stiffness unaffected.

Maxwell just looks happy to be involved.

"If by true feelings you mean my love for the bolognese you made? It was incredible" you try your best to avoid this awkward conversation as much as you can.

"Flattery will get you nowhere in this house, (Y/N). You're just trying to butter up your future daughter", Daisy goes in for the kill.

"I'd rather not think about this right now, I've met you two"- you were interrupted by a bark from Maxwell, "three; about two weeks ago. I think it's just a small time crush and that's it. Love takes time and hard work, there's no way I could be in love with your father this quickly. It's just an interest"

"Well, just keep hanging around with us and see what happens. You never know, you could find your future family here, and if not, then that's too bad, but we can all still remain close, right?", she speaks softly, stroking Maxwell as he loosens up, becoming tired and curling up in Daisy's lap. 

Daisy is speaking the truth about this, despite her age, she must have read up the concept of romance and love to maybe help her father get back out there, maybe she's lonely without a second parent, and she doesn't seem to mind whether or not her father would date a man or a woman.

You watch Daisy continue to stroke Maxwell, the dog dozing off on her lap and she seems unphased by the weight of him, "would you really support me with your father?"

"Why not? It'll make him happy and if it makes another person happy in the process, which is you, then why would I not?" she locks eye contact with you, her eyes look as if they had a glimmer of hope in them, she must be bored being smart all the time and not have many friends to be around with.

Now you have found your second objective. The first was obvious, you wanted to romance Brian, but now you want to be a friend to Daisy. Someone for her to be close to and be accompanied with whilst Brian is working.

Sometime later, you and Daisy are cuddled up on the couch, a blanket draped over the both of you and Maxwell sharing both of your laps fast asleep. You both were still watching Long Haul Paranormal Ice Road Ghost Truckers. You check the time and it was almost midnight. Doing the complicated math in your head that a ten-year-old girl + midnight with five days of school this week, you've come to the conclusion that this girl should be in bed. You never realised these episodes could reach an hour long.

You nudge Daisy who was absolutely engrossed in this episode that you had to speak, "Daisy, I think it might be past your bedtime, you have school in the morning, don't you?"

"I do, yeah, but can I go after this episode? I want to see your reaction to it, it's insane!", it sounds like she's picking up on your lingo.

You comply, and half an hour later you're sprawled on the settee staring at the ceiling in the dimly lit room, contemplating life and everything that had happened in that episode. It had turned out that one ghost that was haunting a certain truck was the driver's own mother who had been writing on his frosted over windows. Which made the messages more creepy especially when the ice and frost would start melting off, the smiley faces she left looked incriminating, to say the least.

"you going to sleep alright, tonight?" Daisy asks, pulling the duvet off of her in a flash, covering poor Maxwell with her side of the blanket.

"I might need to sleep with Maxwell tonight", you reply, holding Maxwell closely to you.

Maxwell struggles against your affection, sounding like a disgruntled pug after running a marathon with his panting and neck rolls whilst he pulls away.

Daisy laughs, "good luck with that, Maxwell sleeps in my room, but if you really want to you can have him for the night-", and before Daisy could finish what she was about to say, Maxwell jumps off of your lap and scurries upstairs; most likely to Daisy's room.

Daisy giggles, "well, I hope you sleep well, feel free to sleep on the couch, I can leave the blanket here for you and you have pillows here, they're surprisingly comfortable"

You say goodnight to Daisy and she potters upstairs, her door closing softly, no doubt to prevent Brian from waking.

You lay there, staring at the ceiling waiting and wanting to fall asleep, but you couldn't. You toss and turn, groaning to yourself. You get up and wander to the kitchen, pulling out a glass and pouring some juice into it. You gulp down the drink and you place the glass next to the sink to clean in the morning; you stare at it for a few seconds. Now that you're up there's no way you can sleep now.

You decide to go and see Brian, just to be there just in case he wakes up and needs something.

You sneak up the stairs and into his room, bless him, he's still asleep, curled up in the fetal position facing you. His juice was almost empty, the water next to it had a few sips taken out of it, so you can tell he doesn't like to drink much water. His bowl of ice was empty, though, he must've drunk the remainders once it had melted.

You crouch down next to the bed and you just watch him. You just want to shower him in kisses. You didn't even care if you caught his illness, that would just mean he had to take care of you again, and if he got ill, you had to do the same. It would be a never-ending illness you both had to take care of. What a romantic tragedy that would be.

Suddenly, Brian opens his eyes. He doesn't flinch or back away, he wasn't even surprised you were there, he smiles weakly, his brows furrowed again, "(Y/N), hey, what time is it?"

"it's gone past midnight" he makes you smile, no matter what the situation is.

"you're still here? You can go home if you'd like", his face looks sad as if he thought he was inconveniencing you.

"don't be silly, I'm staying here, I have the couch to sleep on, Daisy hooked me up big time, it's probably as big as my house", you softly chuckle, and Brian does the same.

"Daisy is making you sleep on the settee? If I weren't ill I would've shared my bed with you", Brian inches his hand closer to you and you softly grasp it.

"that would be great, we'll have to do that another time, though, unless you want to take care of me whilst I'm ill again", you rub the back of his hand with your thumb.

"I would take care of you no matter what", Brian's face flushed, it might not be because he's embarrassed, but he could be getting hot.

"how sweet, would you like me to open up the window for you? You look red", Brian rearranged the hand holding and pressed your hand on the bed softly, your palm facing the ceiling and he tickled it with his fingertips.

"I'm a redhead what can I say" he lets out a weak, raspy giggle.

You have a feeling that was a no, and so you remained in your spot, the same spot many hours ago.

You both spend minutes staring back at each other smiling. Changing your position and crossing your arms onto the mattress and resting the side of your head against them, admiring the view, you hope he gets to feel better soon, just so you could hug him again. Your body was craving his physical affection.

Without warning, you crashed, and the next time you awoke it was morning. Brian was inched closer to you, his hand resting on the top of your head as if he fell asleep petting you. From the looks of it, he was sound asleep. You look towards the clock on the bedside table and it was 5:57 am. The sun was just reaching just over the horizon.

Soon, you heard the alarm go off. Does Brian wake up at 6:00 am? Every day? Did he forget to turn it off?

You turn the alarm off yourself, hoping it didn't wake him up; but then you felt his hand move, your head full of warmth and care from Brian's hand was gone, and you see him sitting up and removing the blanket that laid atop of him throughout last night.

You see he sleeps in his underwear, black and green plaid pattern, and a white tank top he seems to adore wearing. Something seemed off. You see his top was wrapped tightly around his chest, his pecs bulging out from under the shirt as it had risen up during the night. As he stretches you see his pecs bounce as he strains his back and shoulders.

The orange light hit him which made him instantly more attractive, and the light made him look like he was feeling better. Until he lowered his arms and opened his eyes, hunching over giving a defeated moan of death. You thought to yourself this wasn't the kind of moan you want yo hear come from his mouth.

You grasp his hand that he kept laying on the bed to help him sit upright, "hey, get back to sleep, you look like you're about to get out of bed"

Brian looks at you effortlessly attempting to hide his tired expression, "I need the toilet and then I'm going to have a wash", he yawned.

You let him have this one, he spent the time in the bathroom, probably the only alone time he was able to get whilst he was conscious, and then you hear the shower turn on. He's probably feeling disgusting with the amount of sweating he does. Should you peek? Or change his bed sheets as he probably would prefer to sleep on clean ones. 

You decide the latter, you pull open a drawer and with an immediate interest, it was his underwear drawer. You tried not to act interested but you scanned the pairs he wore, multiple colours of plaid, checkered, flower patterns, stripes and block colours. He was a very colourful man despite the only colours he wore would be green and off-white.

You close the drawer and continue on your adventure. You open the bottom drawer this time and your instincts were correct, they laid neatly and folded precisely mattress covers, duvet covers and pillowcases.

You spent five minutes trying to get his duvet and mattress sheet off, his bed is so big, you're no doubt going to struggle to get the sheet and duvet cover on. The pillows are simple enough to do, though.

Brian came back dried and in a towel, witnesses you having a fight with the duvet cover.

"Hey, (Y/N), you don't have to do that, I could've done it later", you pause and state at his towel wrapped lowly around his waist.

His chest hair going down his curvaceous belly and into the groin area, nestled over the top of the folded towel he kept in place. It was a beautiful sight.

"no, I want you to sleep in a clean bed, that's the only way you're able to get better", you say whilst stuffing the duvet into its cover, and shaking it violently.

You were finally able to sort the bedding out for Brian to sleep in, you wave the duvet side to side rapidly as a sign for Brian to get in, "could you avert your gaze, please (Y/N), I want to get changed", you obliged and you turn around, still sorting out the pillows to make sure they're fluffed up.

"Okay you can stop now" when you turn around Brian is in his construction getup.

You pray to yourself, please be a roleplay. Until you realised Brian was actually planning on going to work. You could see his legs physically shaking, his body was zapped from energy because of this flu, but he's still trying.

"Brian, you can't go to work, you have to stay and rest", you throw the duvet back down onto the bed in frustration; if he came into your home telling you to stop working and get rest, then surely he should be doing the same especially if he's iller.

"I'm sorry, (Y/N), but you don't understand, I have so much work to get done", he looks just as frustrated, which is understandable, "Please, I have to go today"

"Fine, but if you're going, then I am too", you put your foot down, you're going to spend the day looking after Brian making sure he gets his water and liquids down and that he isn't going to be overexerting himself.

Then again, it'll be fascinating knowing what kind of people he works with.


	12. Bonding

You and Brian had spent an hour on a bus and thankfully you persuaded him that he was too ill to drive. Of course, it was difficult to change this man's mind, but after convincing him the strain of the journey will cause danger to those on the road as well as just him, he decided against it. He had contacted his work to tell them he will be late, though apparently, they excused his tardiness because of his hard work. Apparently, he voluntarily starts early without extra pay, just to get a good reputation in his career. Though you think to yourself, imagine how much extra money he could be getting if he totalled all of those unpaid hours.

But now he's tired, delirious and feverish, and during the bus ride, he would be bobbing his head passing through sleep, consciousness, time and space. You were ready to just take him off and take a bus back home, but by the time you were ready to make that decision you were already at his workplace.

It was a tall building with what you could assume was more than twenty floors. This was completely different from what you were expecting. You thought Brian would be going to an actual construction site, however, it clicks that Brian could be doing freelance and he could be meeting with his new client. You had gone halfway up the building through the elevator and you reach the 13th floor. You follow Brian through the hallway which was office based, but with a very modern interior. You would love to work in an environment like this, but not in an office.

You step into a room with him, surrounded by windows, and there sat a man in a very posh suit. Your guess seemed to be correct, this was indeed a client for Brian, however, whether he was a new or old client was beyond you. Not to mention whether this project had started already.

"Good morning, sir", Brian weakly breathed out.

"Brian, you look awful! What's happened? You look just as bad as on Friday!" the man was absolutely gobsmacked, and looking upon his desk, his name was Bradley Riner.

"No, I just caught a cold, that's all, I'll be fine. We should talk about what we'll be doing today", Brian swayed as if he were being pushed around by a gale of wind and Bradley did not look amused.

"Brian, I think you should get home, I can't have you be working on this project if you're acting like this. I don't want to work with someone who can't take care of themselves", Bradley was right, you wouldn't want to work with someone who can't take care of themselves, as it could affect the project.

Bradley seems harsh, but Brian had to know that he can't do this to himself; especially to those who care about him. From the corner of your eye, you see Brian look down, he looks defeated, tired, distraught and frustrated. You could understand how he would want to work and do what he loves - besides, that was exactly what you wanted to do when you were feeling under the weather. But he can't set a bad example for his daughter. If she fell ill and wanted to go to school, you were sure he would push her back into bed.

"Brian, I'm sorry, but I want you to go home and rest, come back when you're feeling better. We'll be waiting", Bradley leaned forward, resting his intertwined fingers together on his desk like the stereotypical boss.

Brian nods, your instinct tells you his eyes could well up any second, but it seems that Brian is holding back, "yes I understand, sir", and then you both leave.

It was a quiet walk back to the bus station. Brian acted as if he didn't want to speak just yet, and so you just let him be until he wanted to communicate. It took two and a half hours to get here and back and within that time Brian could be asleep, you were furious that he wouldn't think about his own health. It was sad, but you will punish him when he feels better, but could you actually do it?

You both sat next to each other on the way back to the col-der-sac, his eyes and head would drop every so often, and it became more frequent the more time you spend on the moving vehicle. He would blush from embarrassment if you or another person caught him in this endless loop of exhaustion. It seemed as if he needed a distraction from falling asleep and so he had noticed that you weren't paying much attention, lost in your own thought staring straight ahead with your shoulders relaxed and your hand beside you on the seat. You felt Brians little finger softly curl over yours. Not holding hands, and definitely no entwining, but just a simple nudge to show he is still there and thinking about you.

You could see Brians head from the corner of your eye lower in a saddened expression, "Are you angry at me?", soft, and trembling with anxiety his voice croaked.

"Very," was all you could say, until you were able to put it into words, "you could be asleep by now if you stayed home, so don't blame me if your flu gets worse", you felt your eyebrow twitch, along with your eyelid; your body reacts in a regretful manner on how cruel you sounded.

"Is there anything I could do to cheer you up?", as if he were trying to bribe you he tightened his finger.

"Watching you get better", you reply quickly and bluntly, which seemed to bother him a bit, almost guiltily and troubled he mutters a mix of mumbles and hums, making you feel bad, "I'm not angry at you, I'm angry at the situation"

Brian mopes, muttering an apology like a child being in deep water. He leans into you, resting his head against yours, "I really am sorry...", hearing him apologise so much literally destroys your heart, and he hadn't done anything terrible to ask for your forgiveness in such a manner.

"It's fine, Brian, we'll get you feeling better first and then we'll sort your schedule out to help you ease on the stress, alright?", you lean into him as well, manoeuvring your head into his shoulder, having him rest over you as the two of you support each other.

You stay like that in silence, and suddenly you heard Brian's breathing shift in a way that made you assume he was sleeping. You were flattered that he thought of you like a comfortable pillow but after a while, your neck and the posture of your body began to ache, especially your hips and lower back. Staying in a position that makes you strain your body made you feel uncomfortable. You were leaning into Brian but not resting on him, you were tensing your body up as you lean in his direction for him to rest on you. But you didn't want to wake him up. You shuffled yourself closer, hoping to relax your body without waking him, and you were successful. Surprisingly, your little fingers were still in contact and it was a wonderful feeling being so close to him. 

You were so comfortable now that you didn't want to get off the bus, but thankfully you had 45 minutes to spare, and with that amount of time, you planned to rest your eyes and savour this moment.

That 3/4 of an hour went by quickly with the scenery going by to keep your mind from going into the gutter, and by going into the gutter; you meant your nether regions. Brian hadn't put any cologne on today but his natural body scent, shampoo and body wash smelled so good. You could smell a hint of vanilla and passion fruit and maybe some mango somewhere on his body and you had been creepily smelling his odour during that time.

As soon as you knew the area you were entering, you nudged Brian softly, you were about five minutes away from the bus stop and that was plenty of time to wake him up and get him energised to make a move.

The bus slowly stopped at a bus shelter, doors opening and ready for the next lot of people to jump on. Brian dozily trudged to the exit and you both stepped off, minutes away from the col-der-sac.

You were able to bring him to his door, with every few steps he would make the face of wanting to scream and groan, but nothing would come out; silently in agony.

Once inside you brought Brian to his bedroom, and he slowly sat on the end of his bed and curling his legs up to his chest in a fetal position. Falling onto his back in slow motion and them rolling over onto his side. You wouldn't be surprised if he started to weep.

"Please don't leave me...", Brian whimpers into his bed.

You tug at the bedding from under him, "I don't think your bed will leave you, Brian"

Brian rocked side to side, with each rock you would slip the bedding from under him, and once you had the full cloth, you draped it over his legs, giving him the choice on what to do with it.

"I wasn't talking about the bed, I don't want you to leave me", you hear Brian speak after a few seconds of silence.

It was sweet that this man was in such a vulnerable state that he would want you to stay with him to feel better. It was at a point where you weren't even angry anymore; this man wanted to provide for his family so of course, he could never miss a day of work, but with what Daisy had told you about how rare it was for him to come down as ill, he mustn't take many sick days.

"Could I please have a hug? Daisy would always make me feel better with one but I want a hug from you", Brian mumbles with his face buried into his pillow.

"You're going to have to sit up for that, Brian", you sit down onto the side of the bed next to him, and you could hear a faint groan in frustration, "unless you want me to hug you like this, then I don't mind"

You inch closer to Brian and you lay over on top of him. Comforting him by rubbing his shoulders through his construction gear. He groans in delight. You could hear he enjoyed it.

"Not to sound like a creep, but could you help me get my construction gear off, please, (Y/N)? I had the energy this morning but the commute to work has really tired me out", you could hear him clear as day lying right on top of him, but you had to ask again; he couldn't possibly be asking you to undress him, right?

"Hey, Brian, I'm sorry I couldn't hear you, could you repeat that?", you lean in closer to his face, and he tilts his head to the side.

"(Y/N), I'm tired from the commute, please get me out of my construction clothes" you could see a blush on his face, however that could just be from the fever he has.

"Are you sure? I will see everything unless you want me to close my eyes?", you're getting flustered yourself; you shouldn't be thinking of such erotic things when someone needs your help when they're too sore to move.

"Please. I don't care if you see everything, I just want to get out of these clothes and into something more comfortable", which is understandable, and so you do just as he asks.

You get off of Brian, still remaining on the bed, with the bear's legs in between yours as you kneel towards him. You tug on belts and straps and flaps with buttons; anything that could make it easier to get off. You didn't know how these clothes worked, so you tried anything and everything.

You gently wrestled with it, attempting your best not to harm the man. You feel as if you could lift the shirt up but it ends up getting stuck somehow. Instead, you undo the trousers, but it was difficult sliding them off with someone laying down. Eventually, Brian takes notes of your struggles and rolls onto his back, ending up with you straddling him. At this point, straddling him was in no means erotic, until you looked at his face, flushed red, brows furrowed with a pained submissive look.

"(Y/N), if you can't do it, it's fine", your lips quiver trying to think of a response, you look down at the mess you had caused, his belly peeking through from the bottom of his shirt and the suggestive shot of his underwear with the trousers pulled down.

Your heart thumped in your chest, you had to fight this urge quickly, and then you noticed the flaps of the shirt - it wasn't a shirt! It was an overcoat! The zipper was located inside the flap, and once you opened it you zipped it down. Underneath was a buttoned-up shirt and you unbuttoned that as well. You were doing it so fast you weren't registering his body in front of you at all, you just wanted him to be comfortable.

You moved down to the trousers and you slipped them off of him as Brian took the overcoat and shirt off himself; he tossed them onto the floor next to him. You stepped off the bed and successfully peeled the trousers off of his legs after you had untied his boots. You took his clothes that remained on the floor and you went to his wardrobe in search of some hangers to hang up ready for the next time he was well enough to go to work.

You wipe the sweat off your forehead and you turn to face Brian. Undressed with only socks and underwear. He remained on his back, drifting between wake and unconsciousness. Your mouth goes dry, stepping towards him to get a closer look and to be there for whatever else he wanted.

His belly looked soft. His skin pale, despite being out in the sun all of the time. His freckles were not just on his face and arms, but down his torso as well. You didn't get this close of a look this morning after his shower. Which reminded you of his pubic hair; from the outline in his underwear, he was packing girth and heat.

After gawking for a bit, you feel a sense of guilt from looking at Brian's body without his consent, and so you took the blanket from earlier and draped it over him. You sit onto the edge of the bed towards him, placing your hand on his thigh.

He looks at you with a smile, you almost believe that he didn't see you gaze at him, but he had; though he hadn't registered it. 

His face was still flushed, holding a pained expression, he speaks "Thank you, I can understand how embarrassing and humiliating it must be to undress someone like me", Brian ends his sentence with a hurt chuckle; the kind that happens when one is awkward and doesn't know to end their say.

It emotionally hurt you to hear Brian say this, what if he saw you looking and thought of it as a negative thing? Your mouth dropped, and you felt your back begin to sweat, you had icy chills going through you, and you didn't know what to say. You couldn't say what you truly felt about his appearance, like 'hey, Brian, you're totally sexy. I love bear guys!' because he may get uncomfortable, but would it be better than having him thinking the worst?

"Brian, honestly, your appearance is fine. People like a little bit of meat on their bones, and so do I", you chuckle back, remembering that your hand was still on Brian's thigh you pull it away.

You start to feel anxious now. What if Brian thinks you're flirting with him? The inappropriate touching. The heartfelt compliments. Confessing your likes and turn-ons to the man that has them.

"Thanks, buddy, I'm just tired of being tired, I hope I get to feel better soon. Then again, work is going to be on my case for a bit, which I don't appreciate", Brian sighs, his words getting slurred from the drowsiness.

"I'm sure you'll be fine, you just need a week or two to balance work out again - and you know I'm here if you need it", you reassure his concerns.

Brian simply smiles and his eyelids close, making you the last thing he saw before passing out. 

Hours later, after hanging out with Daisy all day on the sofa, talking about bizarre topics, you both heard Brian slowly come down the stairs. You hear a chuckle escape his lips, approaching the two of you.

"Strangely I feel so energetic right now, maybe that's it? Flu gone?" he seems ecstatic and hopeful.

"I don't think your flu would go that quickly, dad. You need more rest", Daisy tries to tempt her father back upstairs, but he insists on staying down here with the two of you.

"No, no, I'm pretty sure I'm well enough to remain here", Brian plummets himself between the two of you, wrapping his arms around you both.

"Gah, dad, you're sweaty and you need to shower immediately", Daisy tries to pull away, but he only clings harder.

"Oh, but Daisy, I feel disgusting when I shower, the hot water makes me sweat more, and I'm only sorta' clean for a time until I sweat again", Daisy pries herself away from her overly-affectionate father.

Brian gives in and leans into you, wrapping his arms around your torso. Normally you wouldn't mind this, but there was always something weird about being ill and your body releasing a certain foul odour. It could ward off predators because it was definitely doing the same for you.

"Brian, honestly, you know I love to cuddle, but Daisy is right, it's not your fault, but I say go for a warm shower or soak in a bath - relax your muscles a little" you try to lean away, his skin felt grimy, too, and strangely oily.

"I'll go for a bath, then - but it gets so lonely sleeping all the time! You know how outgoing I am! Please let me relax with you two!" he's pulling another one of his tantrums.

"Yeah, dad, sure, if you feel better after a bath, then you can relax with us, but only if you feel better", Brian grins ear to ear, and leaps from his seat, exiting your personal space and heading back upstairs.

"But he's ill, are you really going to let him out of bed?", you're surprised Daisy was so alright with Brian being out of bed when really he should be resting as much as he can.

Until you hear her cackle, "I'm sure after his muscles are relaxed and he's warm, he'll get tired again and go off to bed"

She's so evil. You love it.

"That was your plan from the start?", you laugh in reply.

"I don't get to spend much time with you, (Y/N) - and besides, he'd do the same to me", somehow you could believe it, but at the same time, you couldn't.

Half of an hour went by and there was still no sign or voice of Brian. Which worried Daisy a little - he must still be bathing and enjoying it.

You assure Daisy for the moment and go to investigate. You knock on the wooden barrier separating the two rooms you were in. You heard nothing. No reply.

You knock on the door again, harder and louder, "Brian, I'm coming in if you don't say anything - don't play any games" - nothing.

You open the door slowly, just so Brian knew you were entering to give enough time to stop you, and again, nothing.

You enter the bathroom until you looked down towards the bathtub and there laid Brian, asleep, surrounded by bubbles, coating from the bottom of his breasts and everything else to hide his dignity; thankfully he didn't drown. You close the door behind you.

You knelt down and you tapped his shoulder, "Brian, hey, wake up, you fell asleep in the bath", you keep tapping until he woke up, still dozing, but slowly waking up. 

"(Y/N), hey, What're you doing in here? Did you want to join?" he must still be out of it, but you were considering his proposal.

"No, Daisy and I hadn't heard from you in a little while so I went to go check - I don't think Daisy wanted to walk in on you, so I took the offer", Brian chuckled, fully conscious again.

The man grabbed a chunk of bubbles and blew them at you, "I don't care if this apparently for children, bubble baths are the best", it was indeed something you didn't think about - you pictured Brian to be the showering type.

"If only you didn't have bubbles in the tub" you teased, grabbing a handful of bubbles as well and blowing them back.

Brian's face turned red, not just from the hot water, but from your comment, and he scratched his damp beard, "I don't know what to say, you've seen me without clothes many times within the past few weeks, I think it's time for you to be in my shoes", he avoids eye contact.

Could he be nervous he said such a thing? Is he wondering what you'll do? However, you take his offer. You strip. Removing your shirt and unbuttoning your trousers.

Brian attempts to say something, however, the only thing to come out of his wet, furry mouth was stammers and grunts. It could have been Brian's attempt to try and stop you but was curious if you would keep going.

You remove your socks and you look down to the underwear you still had on. You decided to just get in with them. You took one step in and you look towards Brian, confirming whether or not he wanted you in there with him. He nods slowly and you reply with a nod back.

Once you are submerged in water it was lukewarm. The water raised to a point where Brian had to empty half the tub out just to add more hot water in so it doesn't overflow. You sit with your knees to your chest. You couldn't believe you thought about getting in, especially going through with it. Maybe you should leave, you had your chance to be flirty and ambitious. Brian notices and grins at you.

He raises his hands and rests them on both sides of the bath and tilts his head up a little, keeping eye contact, "come on, buddy, relax a little, it's alright", he reaches down to grab your ankles and slides them over to him.

You squeak whilst your legs are pulled by this brute, spread over both sides of Brian, resting on his thighs, your hands automatically fling into the air and dangle over the sides of the tub. Brian let's go of your feet and turns the hot water off. Even though you're wearing your underwear, you're still having skin-to-skin contact with this man, and not just any contact, it was wet.

Brian let's out a groan, "Aaahhh!", slouching back into the tub and closing his eyes.

Whilst Brian slouches, your legs go down with him trapping your legs behind him, and you're forced the sit there opposite him, vulnerable with your legs open.

"Could I ask you for a favour in a bit, buddy?" Brian announces, unaware of his body still trapping you in this embarrassing position, "If I turn around, could you wash my back?"

A hairy back. Broad shoulders. Muscles in the arms, yet soft to the touch

"Yes, of course! I could help you with that" you jumped at a chance to get out of this humiliating pose, that the moment Brian shifted you pulled away, the bubbles hiding away your obvious erection.

Brian turned his back to you and you reached over to his side to grab the sponge. His body was so girthy you had to lean into him in order to get the soft object. Your chest and belly pressing into his back, with only a thin layer of water preventing your skin from touching his.

You grabbed the body wash located on the side. Pommergranit. You squirt a generous amount all over the sponge and you get to work on Brian's physique. Soaping up his back and shoulders, you could hear him stifling his moans.

"Arms up", you order him and he obeys.

You scrub his armpits, going up and down his arm, and then back to his armpits. You've lost control. He only wanted you to clean his back, but you reach around, pressing your body against his as you start to clean his front. His hairy chest was fun for you to scrub and you were just about to head lower to his belly until you snapped out of it.

After getting carried away you pull back a bit. Brian could tell from the ripple of the water pulling into and around him as you lean backwards. He turns his head to you.

"Would you like me to do your back?", Brian asks as he turns his body 180 degrees, full frontal facing you.

You couldn't see a lot from the belly downwards, but you were aware it was there. You smile shyly, which was strange, as you hadn't felt like this before around Brian. You were silently freaking out. You turn around once Brian grabbed onto your shoulders, moisturising your back with body wash and shower gel and he scrubbed your back with the same sponge. Brian even started to use his hands at one point, giving you a fantastic and professional quality back massage.

Brian forcefully lifts your arms up individually to wash underneath them, which was surprising, yet charming, having someone like this take care of you.

The man behind then glided his hands around to your front, striking and massaging your chest and neck, slowly and sensually running his hands down against your nipples each stroke he attempted which made you bite your tongue; and with that every attempt, you bit your tongue harder. You were practically chewing on it by the end.

The last step Brian did was soaking the sponge up to wipe away the excess bubbles remaining on your body. Which was over straight away, but you smelt amazing and your skin was super soft.

You turn back around red-faced from the hot steam but also flustered from your experience of being washed for the first time. You uttered a 'thank you' and Brian smirked.

The wet, ginger beast draped his arms over the edge of the bath, "looks like we're ready to get out, now", Brian gestured his hand towards the door, letting you make the first move.

You nod in response and you step out, grabbing the only towel in the bathroom, "there's another towel on the radiator in the spare room, could you grab that one for me, please?“

"Of course, I'll be right back", you wrap the towel around you and the moment you closed that door, you could hear the force and power of the water splash about that sounds like Brian had stepped out.

You went on a quick mission to find the towel. Even though it was summer, it still got cold more frequently lately as Autumn was approaching, so you had to hurry to stop him from getting more sick.

Eureka! You found it, and you pranced back to the bathroom, opening the slit of the door and you put your arm through with the towel attached, trying your damn best not to look in.

"Thanks, buddy!", Brian takes the towel and opens the door shortly after, greeting you with the bare top half and the covered under.

The two of you head back to Brian's room to get dried. You were avoiding contact with Brian so you didn't look like you were too interested in seeing him nude.

You realised your underwear was still moist and wet even after drying your body, but you couldn't just put your clothes on.

"You look concerned, what's up, bud?" Brian turns around to you, witnessing you standing in your wet underwear.

"I need to dry these before I put my clothes back on, but I can't, and now I'm stuck", you could just put your clothes on and go home but you couldn't just leave Daisy alone downstairs.

Fuck. Daisy is waiting for you and thinks you're knocking for Brian, she must think he's dead or something. She obviously doesn't know you just took a bubble bath with her dad.

"Here," Brian nudges you, handing you a pair of his fairly large but colourful boxers, "You can wear this. Wrap yours up in a towel so Daisy doesn't see them and put them in a plastic bag that is in the kitchen, she won't be able to see you there, and leave the towel on a chair or in the washing machine", this man is just full of great ideas.

You nod, taking his pair of boxers and undressing with the towel wrapped around your waist. Your wet undergarments slap the floor with a heavy slop. The sound was very gross.

After drying your nether-regions, you slide Brian's boxers from under the towel and successfully get changed right in front of him - even he seems impressed.

You wrap the underwear up with the towel and you head to the bathroom, quickly getting changed into your clothes and you dash downstairs, acting as casually as you can.

Daisy wasn't there. She must've gone to her room, thank god. You nervously tiptoe to the kitchen and there Daisy was; this was awful timing.

"Hey, (Y/N)! You were gone a while, are you okay? How's dad?", Daisy was stirring a pot on a flamed hob - it smelt a lot like the soup Brian gave you.

"Yeah, I'm fine! He's fine! All is fine! We just talked!" flustered you try to come up with a story to tell her instead of what actually happened.

"That's good! What's that towel for?", she looks down at what you were holding, you can't tell her it's the one you dried yourself with wrapped in the underwear you sat in the same water her dad did - that's fucking weird.

"Oh, no! This is Brian's towel! I was going to put it in the washing machine for him", you lie through your teeth to a young girl who is just making lunch, how could you?

"Oh, I could take it for you, I'm sure you wouldn't want to touch something dad had watched himself with!", Daisy lunged for the towel and you scream.

Daisy looked confused but didn't give up. She snatched the towel out of your grasp and pranced off, "I'm so sorry you had to hold onto this! I'm used to doing some of the washing so I don't mind!"

You chase after her. She is knelt down opening the washing machine and opening the folded towel to shake before putting it in. What falls out? Your underwear. Your damp, soggy underwear.

Daisy looked disturbed. Looking up at you and back down.

"I don't remember dad owning this pair, or even buying a new set", she looks up at you holding them by the edge in a disgusted manner.

"Daisy, I'm sorry, they're mine", you admit, "your dad splashed water at me and got them wet", you lied.

"But you guys were talking?" she blinks dumbfounded.

"We were! We were talking!"

"In the bathroom where dad was bathing?" Daisy drops them onto the floor.

Shit, this isn't going well, "Well... Yeah... But we were talking"

"But how could your underwear get wet by a splash of water if you were fully clothed?" she lowered an eyebrow in curiosity.

You were digging yourself a grave here, man.

"It just... Happened", you stutter.

A light bulb lit up above her head, she figured it out!

"You washed my dad's back, didn't you? You wanted to take your clothes off so they wouldn't get wet but you kept your underwear on to keep your dignity!" she saved your fucking ass.

"Yes, exactly!" you screech.

"(Y/N), honestly, I don't care what you both get up to, I'm mature enough to understand what adults get up to. Dad hasn't had his back scrubbed in so long", wait, she's 10, is she insinuating...?

"No, no, it's all fine, you don't need to treat me like a boy asking your daughter's hand in marriage, okay?", you try your best to cut her off, but she keeps going. 

"It's fine, though! You both are mature enough to nap together, which leads to sleeping, and I think that's romantic", did Brian tell her that people sleep and nap instead of saying 'sex'?

"Thank you, Daisy, I think I get it, now can I put my underwear in a plastic bag so I can head home?", you hold your hand out to receive the pair.

"Sure! But what are you wearing if its right here?" Daisy doesn't look too bothered, but it's embarrassing you to no end.

"T-They're clean!" was all you could say.


	13. Your Muse

It had been a few months since Brian had the flu - and that was the last time you had talked to him since. It was October now, and Halloween was approaching fast and literally just around the corner; because everyone had decorated their houses.

The last time you had spoken to Brian was the day he recovered from his illness. He had told you he was going to be very busy with his job and that he may not talk as much as he should be doing but would very much like to see you again.

Ever since then, you've been up to date with your own job, and it was great! You were enjoying every bit of it, and you were slowly becoming popular, too. You even based a few illustrations off of your experiences, and you even added some plot points from your real life to the (fanfiction? Novel?) you were writing. Your life has actually become motivational, and it made you feel the happiest you have ever been.

There wasn't a day where you wouldn't think about the man that changed your life, you would frequently be updated on Dadbook and his statuses, to which you would like and comment and the same he did to you, however, that was as far as you had gotten to actually talking to him again. A part of you must have felt embarrassed about what you have told him whilst being under a fever, and even remembering the sweet things he'd tell you, too. You weren't sure if it was just the fever talking, though.

One day, you received a message from him, out of nowhere, which was a surprise.

"Hey, (Y/N)! How are ya', buddy? I hope you've been doing well! I've caught up with work, so we can have an evening meal together if you'd like to! Drop me the times you will be available!

P. S, when would you like to do that life drawing thing?“

You were taken aback. Not only were you surprised he messaged you so casually, but brought up something you totally forgot you asked him to do for you whilst you were ill.

You thought long and hard about your response, but you're worried to leave him hanging for too long, especially when he knows you've read it and not replied, he'll get worried he's upset you.

"Hey, Brian! I hope your work has been treating you well! My work has been coming along well lately, and I've almost finished off this batch for this month, so we can celebrate sometime soon if you're up for it!

How about you model for me every Friday or Saturday ;)"

You debated whether or not to put the winky emoji, however, when you were about to backspace it, you accidentally hit enter and sent the message off.

Fuck.

He'll get the wrong impression.

"Sorry, I was supposed to put the emoji as a joke, I was just about to erase it, but I misclicked!!"

Save yourself.

"Haha. We can have dinner this Saturday, then, I know Daisy would love to see you again! She wants to add you on Dadbook, but she's not a dad. How come you're on there, you're not a father, are you?

I can model at your house if you'd like me to. We don't want Daisy to walk in on us.

;)"

My god. He's good at banter.

The first thing you could think of was responding to why you have a Dadbook. Especially since you don't have kids, as he was right!

“I have Dadbook to look at all the hot dads, duhh.

Who will cook for dinner? I don't mind attempting to cook something unless you're worried I'll cook the best meal ever!

;)"

This emoji has become a joke itself now. You just hope Brian carries it on.

"If you cook the best meal ever, then I'll have to marry you.

As for Dadbook, I hope you find that hot dad!

;)"

He's done it - and the emoji just makes everything seem more flirty and erotic. Though, how do you respond to the dad comment without sounding cliche and cringe?

"I've found many a father ;)

But you're the only one I've seem to have latched myself onto, but can you get me off? ;)"

You start to get more creative with your emojis; by adding two.

It's now just a back and forth conversation and not just a 5-minute wait. You both respond to each other excessively, and it was nice to be able to talk to him again.

"I'm happy to hear I am a good father for you to latch yourself onto ;)

But no, I don't want to get you off ;)"

You don't think Brian got the innuendo you send him.

"I look forward to seeing you this Saturday, then.

Father ;)"

You cackle to yourself like a maniac after sending the message, immediately you hear the next message come through.

"Please, call me daddy ;)"

You felt your heart literally skip a beat, but it didn't because you would be dead.

Another message sent.

"On a serious note (Y/N), I do look forward to seeing you on Saturday. Let me know what time you're thinking and I can drop by!

-Brian"

"How about 10 am if it's not too early? We can spend the day together and then afterwards we can debate on what to have for dinner that evening?"

You felt weird not leaving it on a joke.

"Can't wait to see you, daddy!"

That's better.

"Perfect, 10 am it is. If there's anything you need me to bring just let me know!

-Daddy Brian"

Fuck, this man is too good for you.

You giggle to yourself in excitement. It was only a few days away and you couldn't contain yourself. You thought to yourself if it was going to be a full show or if he were going to wear anything to block the glorious package you were so thirsty for.

The day came by too quickly for your liking, you couldn't sleep well. You were too excited but so anxious about today. You felt your throat pulsate whenever you would think about it. Your groin with tremble with a slight ghostly feeling of it being tugged. You were nervous as all hell. You had drunk three coffees within two hours, and you were tempted for a fourth. 

But why were you so nervous? Obviously, Brian is the one who should be. He would be the most vulnerable of the two of you, having to be a model of embarrassing poses you were thinking of for him to make, but you thought you could start off easy with simple silhouettes.

It was 9:47 am and Brian was early, "I hope I'm not intruding, I couldn't sleep too well, so I was up early, mind if I had a coffee?", he couldn't sleep either, then?

You both went on your way to your kitchen, your heart was beating faster than ever, but nothing compared to the stunts you pulled when he was ill, they would be considered criminal if Brian doesn't remember. But what if he does? This is like a cliche porno. Is this when you both kiss? Will you have to introduce him to your parents as your daddy? How would your real father react?

"This coffee is delicious, where'd ya' get it from?", Brian spoke between sips of the burning hot lava sitting in a mug.

"The place I got it from when I first met you, that huge supermarket - I haven't been in a while", you muttered, your mind is in other places right now.

"What's up, buddy? Are you okay?" he gazes at you, attempting to drink more of his coffee, "is it today?"

You wince, quickly looking back at him in shock, "Yes, how'd you know?"

"I'm feeling a little nervous myself, it's something I have done before, and I'm guessing the same goes for you as well?", Brian swirls his cup around, watching the liquid swish around in an anti-clockwise motion.

"I used to do it back in university, and I'm used to doing it online with people in adult chat rooms, however, face-to-face and one-on-one, I'm a little anxious", you smile awkwardly at him, slowly looking him up and down.

"I'll let you show me the ropes, then", Brian swallowed the leftover coffee in a single gulp, "you ready to get started, bud?"

You nod to him, guiding him into your room; he hadn't been here since you were ill yourself. You grab a sketchbook and a few pencils and you sit onto the edge of your bed with Brian still standing facing towards you. He took off his overshirt and pulls off his white tank top, throwing them over to the side of the room. He unbuttons his trousers and fly and swiftly stops.

He looks at you and gives a sly smile, flexing his arms as a joke, forcing you to wait for him to strip more - however, you loved this.

Brian reaches to remove his shorts, "Hey, stop!", you shout, trying not to ruin the image; Brian freezes and looks up at you worryingly.

"W-What's up, bud? Did I do something wrong?“, he slowly stands up straight, shorts thankfully in the same position.

"I loved that flex, could you do it again?", you beam.

Brian smiles bashfully and flexes again, you immediately try your best to get the pose down onto paper. His arms looked firm and his pecs looked tough. His body has certainly changed since the last time you saw him. He obviously couldn't work out whilst he was ill, and so his body was a little tender; though his belly was still just as plump, which made your heart flutter a bit.

You nod once you finished and you show him the results.

"Wow! That's fantastic! I never knew you could draw like this, what other stuff do you do?" you blush, you remembered you hadn't told Brian the work you do.

"I can show you if you really want to, but don't get weirded out, okay?", Brian looked excited, and so you scoot over onto your chair and Brian follows closely behind.

In fact, Brian was very close, you could feel the heat off of him. You turn on your monitor and you open the file titled 'X-Rated', which was full of previous commissions and uploads. Selecting them all and putting them into a slideshow. They all involved larger and manlier men in some way or another and doing very raunchy activities. Solo masturbation, sex, threesomes, toys, orgies, fetish and kinks etc. Brian was astounded.

"I-I didn't realise this was what you drew, but your art is... Fantastic... Are these all models?" Brian continues to gaze as if his eyes were glued to the screen.

"Some are models and some are from imagination", some you got ideas from amateur porn videos, but you didn't think that was necessary to say.

"Are these the ideal poses you want me to do?", Brian looked at you, you lock eye contact with him through the reflection on the screen.

"Not really, once again, we can start off easy and work around your schedule, too", Brian sighed in relief.

You both went back to your spots, calmer and much more prepared with what's going to happen. You both needed the talk to soothe the nerves down a few notches. Brian dropped his shorts immediately, and you see the bulge in his underwear once again. You're about to see what lies under that thin fabric that hugs his physique.

Brians' thumbs curl under the rim from the inside, stretching it out a bit, "should I lose the underwear too?"

"If you're comfortable with it", you assure, it took a few seconds for Brian to think this through.

But then he does. His underwear is off. Plummeting to the floor on top of the shorts, the only thing left was his socks and shoes, but you didn't care. You were looking straight ahead, eyeing up the girth his lower body possessed. You tried looking away, but you eventually got drawn back.

"Are you alright, bud?" Brian fiddles with his beard awkwardly and obviously turning red.

"Yeah... I just noticed everything about you and what you own is just big. Your house, your garden, your fridge...", you bite your tongue to avoid saying shaft, helmet and balls.

"... My ego?", Brian chuckles lightly, putting in some attempt to break the awkward barrier.

"I wouldn't touch that - you've gotten better, though" you snicker back, Brian letting go of his beard, getting more comfortable with the environment.

"Haha, you've certainly helped me get better at the whole modesty thing! I just like to show and not tell, now", he must be right, he obviously didn't tell you about the monster he had been hiding all this time that had been held back, literally by cloth and fabric.

But then again, who would?

"So what poses would you like me to do for you, bud?" Brian teases you by flexing in many different positions.

"I actually really liked that one, with you leaning forward, arm up behind the other and the front one going around?" you ask Brian to retrace his steps and he gets back to the pose.

You spend the next few minutes roughly drawing an outline and putting in all of the important details, such as muscles, the direction of the face, the stance etc.

You found the only thing left to draw was Brian's member, however, you were scared he would find it inappropriate for you to stare at it and draw. Brian must be getting tired so you decide to just do it.

You eye it up, the head, the shaft, the circumference, everything. It was perfect. It was thicker than some other cocks you've seen out on the Web, even if it was unerect.

You almost finish drawing it until you see it twitch. This took you by surprise.

You look up and you see Brian's eyes watching you. He knew what you were doing. He didn't look angry, or upset - he knew what this job would entail, and so he just averted his gaze. He must be embarrassed.

You finish the sketch and you look at it in full for the first time, "eh, I still need practice" you chuckle.

Brian breaks his pose and he looms closer to you, "could I see?", he leans forward in hope for you to show him your sketch.

You turn the page and you hand it over to him. He fiddles with his beard, eyebrows raised in shock.

"This looks very good, (Y/N)", he praises you, "you're very generous though... In the... Department..." he gives a soft chuckle and hands it back to you.

You look at the picture again, trying to figure out if you were being generous. However it looked fine - it was in proportion and everything, even if you did draw bigger than average penises in your own form of art. Nobody really complained.

"No, I think it looks right, I don't want to embarrass you, though", you prop the book in your lap ready to draw another pose, until Brian questions you.

"Embarrass me about what?", he tilts his head ready for your response.

"Well, it looks right because you are very well endowed. I wasn't lying when I said everything you had was big - puberty was very kind to you", you laugh, trying to make light of this embarrassing conversation.

"So... You're saying that I'm...?" his voice croaks, cheeks turning pink, "I never really heard anyone say that before... Thank you"

Brian tries to immediately find another pose to do for you, he turns his back to you. His bottom looked very firm. Chiselled and square, he must work out on them quite a bit - must ride bikes a lot. The moment he flexes, his back distorted from average to the definition and pure muscle. You could see some softness in it, but the muscles were still there. You didn't see this from that time you asked him to be your model, but this was a pleasant surprise.

This drawing came out great, you thought about using it as the next pinup - your followers have been asking for more asses lately.

Brian slowly turns around, his cock was semi-erect. Was it nerves? Was that why he turned around so he could calm down?

Halfway through his turn, you asked him to stop.

You turn a page over and you quickly drew it before it went soft again. Then you drew the rest of his body in.

Before you could turn over to the previous page Brian rushes over to take a look over your shoulder, "wait, wait, wait, bud, what did you draw?"

He hurriedly pauses your action and takes a glance, making a shocked, anxious and short groan, "I can't believe you actually drew it again", he exclaims.

You look up at him, "it's easier to draw them when they're in front of me so I can manoeuvre the angle", Brian's face relaxes a little, "but don't worry, once I get a boyfriend I'll get them to pose for me, so you won't have to be worried about this anymore"

Brian's face tenses up again, "wh-what, I volunteered to do this, bud, please, let me carry on", he sounds too enthusiastic for this, your devious plan is working.

It was a few poses in and Brian was getting more experimental. Giving sensual poses, sexy poses, dramatic and action poses. The whole lot. Though there was something that you needed help on.

"Hey, Brian, could I ask you something?", you place your book on the bed and getting up from your seat.

Brian gets up off the floor after his kneeling and arms behind his head pose, "What's up, bud?"

"Okay, so I need help with dynamic poses, and that will be very difficult to do unless I'm in a 'POV' perspective...", Brian tilts his head to the side, a little confused, but conserved about what you'll be asking, "this will be very risky for you, but it'll help me out a lot. Can I take photos or film you in certain poses so I can pick them out for drawings at a later date?“

You play with your fingers as Brian processes this request, "Listen, bud, I wouldn't mind it, but the risk of having these pictures leaked is still pretty high, y'know? I would love to help you, but I don't feel like I can do it...", you want him to help you, but you don't know how to convince him.

"How about you keep the photos and send them to me for when I need them? I can take a photo of the photos and circle the ones I want you to send me along with videos if needed, that okay?", Brian heavily exhales through his nose, looks down at the floor, scratches his head, going down to his beard, and then he speaks.

"Haah... Okay, bud... We'll see how this goes, but I'm not a fan of this idea of yours", Brian admits, getting a little anxious.

"We don't have to if you don't want to. I could always invite you over whenever I need it, take photos, do a rough sketch and delete immediately", Brian's shoulders raise, looking as if he feels a little more confident with that idea.

"We'll see how this goes, bud. Let me know what poses you'd like and take photos or film or whatever you need to do"

"You'll have to pull some embarrassing faces if I film you, though, that alright?" Brian's face looks shocked as if to say 'you really meant what you said about filming?', but then snaps out of it and nods half-heartedly.

"What kind of expressions, though? What angle?", you beckon him towards your computer, loading up a bunch of illustration you had done with alternative versions.

You open a document up of a monster with their clothes on being chained up, alternative images included the clothes being ripped and the monster growing an erection and finishing with ejaculation, "this is the kind of stuff I was thinking of, you see the way his head and face change in various images? I want to have an actual model portray it"

Brian is obviously blushing, "I don't make faces like that, though... Even if I did, the only person that has seen that side of me was my... Wife..." Brian scratches his beard, this has to be the roughest he's scratched it - this must be stressing him out.

"You don't have to do this," before you could finish he interrupts by holding his hand up and you cut yourself off.

"I'll do it, it's just like acting, right?" Brian attempts to tempt himself.

"Exactly, just think of this as acting. You can even watch me pick out my favourite expressions and watch me draw them just so you can witness me deleting the files after", Brian chuckles nervously. 

"I think I'll just watch you delete the files, I have no doubts, though", you get up and you grab your phone.

"would you mind putting your clothes back on? I want to see the angle of your clothes, too" Brian looks down at them on the floor and questionably begins to put them on again.

"Okay? I guess I could do that, but you still haven't told me what angle we would be doing", Brian, now fully clothes, folds his arms self consciously awaiting your instructions.

"I want to do a low angle from between your legs so we can get a nice view from both ends", Brians folded arms tighten, chuckling yet again nervously.

"Okay, I'm just going to try and psyche myself up", Brian walks around in circles a few times and let's his folded arms go, signalling you he's ready to begin.

You nod, and you step closer to him, kneeling to the floor and onto your back. You start scooting your body between his legs and you look through the camera on your phone to find the perfect shot; you then press record and you direct Brian.

"Okay, I'll be using sexual slang so you might be a bit on edge with it, but don't worry, I am, too", Brian nods, "Can you give me a bit of a frustrated-horny expression?"

Brian's face frowns, unsure, but cooperates nonetheless. His brows raise and his mouth hangs open. You next direct him to undress, for the next lot of pictures you picture having your characters clothes slowly come off to be more provocative than a severe change of on and off. 

It was a few minutes of Brian accidentally changing his posture to take off his clothes, but he was able to do so; still showing off his frustrated look, slowly turning submissive. 

It's at a point where you don't know whether Brian is acting or if he's actually turned on, but if he's consenting, it doesn't matter - it would only give your image more realism.

The next lot of images Brian had to get hard for you, but a part of you thought it might be going too far with this. As you were about to stop him, Brians member twitched and raising to its full potential.

"This is amazing, thank you, Brian, I'll stop the footage now", you pull your phone away and turn the recording off.

Brian gets out of his position and pants, "you didn't want the 'money shot'?", it sounds as if Brian was thankful it didn't go too far, but it also sounds as if he wanted some release after this 'photoshoot'.

 

"I didn't want to step boundaries, but if you want to use my bathroom really quick, I'm not against it", you laugh, obviously joking, however, Brian, still nude, twitched, "you really want to use the bathroom, don't you?"

Brian snapped out of his daze, turning around quickly to hide his obvious boner and bends over to collect his clothes, showing off his very muscular and plump ass.

It was firm and very hairy, any ass lovers dream - you'll have to ask him to pose like this again next time.

You avert your gaze away from Brians behind, and he faces back towards you, fully dressed again.

"I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to freak out like that, it was just a lot of pressure", he rubs the back of his neck.

"I can imagine it was nerves, but better hard than soft, right?", once again you joke, giving the obvious air nudge towards him.

Brian cracks a smile, but still, so shyly, he keeps his distance a little.

Fuck. You hope this hasn't affected your friendship. You try to make light of things by beckoning him towards the computer. Plugging your phone in to load up the video, ready to take screenshots. You drag and dropped the files onto the desktop and transported them into a folder.

Brian was very embarrassed but super intrigued. The first small clip of Brian looking unsure and frowning actually looked perfect, and straight away you print screened it and added it as a collection in a document of your new pinup series.

You went through the whole process of the video, speeding it up as you went through it. In total you had captured around 18 images; half you adored the faces Brian had been pulling and the rest were shots of his pose and clothes. You weaved them all down into 6 images of fully clothed, partially clothed, nude-soft, nude-hard, shooting version and the aftermath.

You look up at Brian after the hard working half-an-hour, "would it be alright if I worked on these for a bit so you can watch me delete them?", Brian looks down at you.

He ponders for a bit, preparing what he was about to say, bravely, he came out with it "could I watch you draw? I find this fascinating", that made you so happy.

"Of course! Grab a chair from the lounge and we can just hang out", Brian grinned as if he wasn't expecting that kind of response and practically jogged out the room, "grab yourself a drink, too, if you'd like!" you shout towards the heavy-footed man.

You could tell directly where he was going with his footsteps, it could be why he didn't end up running because he knew he could knock some of your items off the wall and shelf.

"Mind if I have a coffee, bud?", you hear the man shouting back to you from the kitchen in between the sound of clattering silverware and mugs.

"Sure! Fetch me a coke, too, my trusty bear-friend!", you hear him chuckle from the kitchen as he switches the kettle on, and an auditable 'Woof!' from him.

It's nice he knows how to charm you.

Brian returned shortly after with a chair and your coke and leaves again. Your home is literally shaking as he stomps around, unaware of his power; and you weren't going to lie to yourself, it was kind of hot.

You carry on working on your piece, using Brian as a reference for your character in another window.

Seeing him in a freeze frame like this was arousing, but you had no time to gawk and stare at this shirtless to-be man.

By the time Brian got back, you had started the sketch of the second piece. His overshirt was sliding off, his top was raised over his chest and his shorts were becoming undone. The man was exposed and you were excited to see your own character put in Brians place. It's a shame you couldn't keep the photos, but obviously, there were reasons behind it.

You noticed Brian gazing at his photo from the reflection on the screen, continuing to sketch down, "You okay, Brian?", he locks eye contact with you through the reflection.

"I'm just so shocked that you're into guys like me - like, big", Brian didn't even end his sentence in a chuckle, he must be super serious about this, and it sounds like he wants to know your opinion on the topic.

You stop the sketch and you look at him again, "Have you never heard of the Bear community?", however you end your sentence with a chuckle, not knowing how else to end it, you were always somewhat embarrassed by your attraction, and it certainly isn't the norm by society standards which is what made it harder.

"No; I mean yeah, but it's you, and I'm both bewildered but so happy that I don't have to be so insecure about myself around you", you were shocked yourself, shook in fact - you couldn't believe that Brian, the main man of confidence and positivity was insecure and self-conscious of his body.

"I never knew, you hide your insecurity so well", you just stare into his eyes, there was nothing else you could do.

"All I can do is laugh and make jokes, right?" this is when Brian let out a boisterous laugh, which warmed your heart up, "but now I won't have to be self-conscious because I know you won't judge me for who or what I am"

"Of course not, but what about your other friends, I'm sure they don't care what you look like", you try your best to make a valid point.

Brian simply smiles and sighs, "they're all young looking, twink boys with slim physiques and chiselled faces and abs; it's hard not to be self-conscious next to that, but the best thing I can do is own it"

"At least you cuddle better", you see Brians' eyes light up, his moustache curls up as he smiles.

You feel your hand being grasped by this man, entwining yours with his and he grips onto it, soft but firm. It was comforting.

You were now drawing with one hand. Normally you would have your other hand hovering over the keyboard for a shortcut whether it was copy-paste or undo. Then you made a mistake. Not wanting to move your hand you went to Edit and Undo. Shortly after you made another mistake, and you did the same thing.

Brian noticed the struggle, "Drawing really is tedious with you having to go into the drop-down menu, huh?", you bit your tongue.

You didn't want to lie to him, but he was right, it was very tedious.

"Yeah it is, they have keyboard shortcuts, though", Brian's brain clicked and he removed his hand from yours, "my apologies, I didn't mean to sabotage"

You almost want to grab his hand and put it back where it was, but you didn't want to freak him out, "your hand was fine there, don't worry!" you spurt out.

Brian chuckled, "no, no it's fine, I wouldn't want to slow down your art process", and he holds both his hands and rests them in his lap.

Is he just teasing you now? How unfair! He knows how thirsty you are for some hand holding.

It took less than an hour to sketch down what you needed. Brian was astonished by how well you could draw.

"That's amazing, they don't even look like me but I'm who you based it off! Nobody will be able to tell, right?", Brian slides his hand onto your leg, in comfort and replacement for holding your hand.

His hand tickles your thigh, warmth radiating your leg through the trousers you wore, "of course not, there are many people who have this body type, you'll be fine", you place your tablet down and you place your hand on top of Brian's, "now we have to delete the video and images of you"

You go step by step on showing Brian where everything was located and what you planned to do, "your photos and videos are in this file here", you drag the selection box over everything that included Brian.

You right click on one of the selected media and you drag your mouse over to the delete button, you glance at Brian "and this will delete them", in the corner of your eye you can see him nodding slowly.

You click delete, and he loading deletion bar pops up and loads. The green bar slowly creeping along, each individual piece of media disappearing from the folder, and eventually, it was all gone. You look at Brian and he smiles. It was simple but effective, and you could tell he appreciated it.

You hear him utter a small thank you, and that was all you needed to hear from him.


	14. Halloween Meet and Greet

It was Halloween and you were getting ready to start your day by crawling out of bed and starting the job that you just loved so much; both sarcastically and not.

You settle down into your chair, starting up your computer and you realised... Fuck... You need to carry on this piece of artwork. It's not due for a while, but you still need to get it done so you can start the next piece. You liked to get pieces done as soon a possible so if you were to ever have a sick day like you had a few months prior and it got severe, you had backups to upload. 

Thankfully this months art had already been done, and your psychic abilities predicted what Twitter was obsessed with at the time: furries fucking pumpkins - and that's exactly what you drew.

You picked up your tablet pen to just make some minor changes before you grabbed a coffee, but your doorbell rang. And again. And then again. It kept ringing? Someone must be desperate to get your attention.

You get off your chair, dreading for the social reaction that is waiting for you at the door.

You open it, "(Y/N), I need your help! I need a costume idea!" Brian shouted in your face, was he insane?

Everyone knows not to annoy you when you just got out of bed, even Brian wasn't an exception no matter how many times you've seen his penis. 

Once. 

You've seen it once.

Brian shouts at you again, looking pretty worried, "(Y/N)? Please, can I come in, it's an emergency!", an emergency costume idea?

Why would he come to you for ideas? Because you're an artist? Do you have great ideas? Maybe he could get a cheap fursuit and fuck a pumpkin?

"Brian. Not to be rude, but I haven't had coffee yet and I'm trying my damn best to process what you're shouting", Brian hesitates and steps back a bit, realising how loud he had been, "did you say costume idea?"

Brian smiles brightly and shouts, but this time being a step back, "Yes! I need a costume idea for today, as it is Halloween after all and I left it too late, so now I have no ideas!"

"Santa?" you blankly ask.

"Isn't that for Christmas?", Brian replied confused.

You think again, "A sexy Santa?" you desperately want to see Brian as a Santa.

"But a sexy Santa is for women though, right?" Brian looks even more confused.

You stare into his soul, "No."

How dare he think this.

"So what did you think about dressing up as?", what could Brian be? He could be a Viking if he wanted to, or he could be in an actual costume.

"I want to be a werewolf", that's perfect for him.

"like, a fully transformed werewolf? Or maybe half transformed?", Brian's eyes lit up for a second.

"I didn't think of a half transformation! That would look great, buddy! Great thinking!" he's so ecstatic, it warms your heart.

Before you knew it, you were driving towards the mall. Well, not you, but Brian, you were his bag-buddy to help carry shopping. From the sounds of how Brian was talking, he had already sorted out Halloween sweets for the kids and interior decorating; obviously, he had his exterior planned a week prior. Halloween obviously has to be Brian's favourite holiday.

"Halloween has to be my favourite time of year", and there it was, his conversation starter for the drive, "well, I also really like Christmas, I think it's beautiful how many other religions have their own interpretation on it so nobody feels left out", what an innocent man.

"Halloween and Christmas, huh?", you can definitely see him dressing up as a sexy Santa now.

Brian nods, humming a 'mhmm', "I also love Valentine's day. Easter is a fun weekend, too, I like to make games for Daisy and all the other kids in the Cul-de-sac in my backyard, whilst the neighbours and I route on our youngsters go bring back the most eggs. It seems to always be Craig's kids, then again one of them always seems to take the eggs from other children by intimidating them", he then goes silent as if he were thinking, "I think their names were Briar and Hazel"

"Shouldn't taking other owned eggs be a penalty or something?", it did seem kind of unfair, but at the same time, you weren't really a part of it, so why would you care?

Could it be that you wanted to be involved next time?

"They'll find a way to get around it, I'm sure", Brian chuckles, in the ashamed 'I can't believe they get us every time' kind of way.

"So what other holidays do you like? I bet you like St Patrick's day, despite it being an Irish holiday", it must just be the holidays he's listed, there's no way he likes more than just those.

"Of course, how did you guess? It's my favourite!" seriously? What is up with this man and holidays.

"Any particular reasons?", you're too curious.

"Green is my favourite colour! Me and the other neighbours head out to a restaurant to have a drink and a meal", that can't be a reason, right?

"So if I have this right, St Patrick's day is your favourite?", how do you celebrate St Patrick's day without just drinking the entire day?

Brian shakes his head, "No, my ABSOLUTE favourite holiday has to be Daisy's birthday. I get so excited for her, and I just love to buy her presents and watch her reactions", this was a strange turn, yet so admirable and sweet, "she doesn't get excited much for them anymore, I suppose she's reaching that age. She's growing up so fast, but I hope she makes more friends when she goes into middle school, it would be nice to see her spend birthdays with friends"

Brian was unbelievable, he has to have some flaws, right? Despite his need to discuss his successes beforehand, but after that, he just seemed like the type you could just get closer with.

"I hope to spend your birthday with you, too, you'll have to tell me a date and I'll have to try and arrange something. I'm sure that'll be another favourite holiday of mine", it's at a point where he has too many favourites that it doesn't seem that special anymore, but you'll have to wait and see.

"Thank you, Brian, it'll be nice to spend a birthday with someone instead of on my own - I look forward to what you'll have planned", you give him a light nudge on his arm with your elbow.

Brian laughs, "no problem, bud, but for now Halloween is today and we need to find me a Halloween costume", silence happens for a moment until Brian asks "actually, what are you going to be?"

His voice was concerned as if you had to dress up. It was mandatory. But you thought about it and you couldn't decide.

You thought about joining Brian's theme so you could go together, "I could be the Red Riding Hood to your half transformed werewolf", you were hoping Brian would beam and shout 'yes, of course, that would be great! Let's get married', but life likes to be unpredictable.

Brian let out a regretful 'ehh', "Daisy was going to be a Red Riding Hood", now that you thought about it, it did seem pretty fair to have a family dress up.

"I could always be the grandma, but a badass version. Beat the wolf before he eats me", you mimic some punching actions, Brian paying attention from the corner of his eyes but still keeping an eye on the road.

He leans sidewards towards you, "you'll have to try and get away from me before I eat you", he chuckles, showing his teeth in a 'grrr' like fashion.

"I didn't know you were into vore", you joke, Brian laughs confused.

"What?", he gives you a quick glance and turns back towards the road, "Vore? What's that?"

"It's art lingo", you didn't want to tell him the horror, "but you can look it up on Urban Dictionary when we stop at the mall", of course, you wanted him to know to see what reaction he would have.

The hear the man scoff for the first time, "that's unfair, just tell me!" obviously curious, Brian tries his damn best to tempt you to tell him. 

"Nope, only if you remember to browse it", you chuckle, relaxing in your seat admiring the view around in front of you and especially beside you with the red bear driving. 

It had been an extra 10 to 15 minutes until you get to the area that was familiar to you. The mall was close, and then you both arrived at your destination! 

The car stops. The two of your get out and immediately Brian is in his phone. You swallow hard. Is he actually going to search for this term? You thought he would've forgotten about it, but here he is on his phone searching the definition of vore. 

"Urban Dictionary, wasn't it?" Brian mutters, concentrating on his phone screen and then he begins to read it out, "A fetish in which one fantasizes about being eaten alive or eating another creature alive...", he looks at you, his facial expression was all over the place not knowing whether to laugh, question you or go back to reading, however he does the latter, "The most common type of vore is "soft vore", being swallowed or swallowing whole with no bloodshed."

Brian stops reading it out loud, however, he keeps reading silently and taking it all in. Confused, yet intrigued. 

"What did you just make me read?" Brian shrugs, pulling his arms apart, trying to grasp the concept. 

"Vore", straight to the point, rip the plaster off the wound, get it over and done with, "gosh, you're so vanilla", you tease him. 

Brian chuckles, rolling his eyes and stepping towards you, signalling you towards the building known as the mall. 

"So which shop are you wanting to try? We can get faux fur from a fabric store, I'm pretty sure, or we can go to a charity shop or a thrift store that have clothes and coats which may be covered with hair'", you take in the shops around you. 

You knew of the mall and you knew it was huge and where it was located, however, you had never been inside of it before. It was nothing like any of the malls you've been in. 

Brian stops behind you, watching you gaze at your surroundings in awe, "just you wait until Christmas, this place will be beautiful", he looks around for a short while, pondering, "let's head to the thrift store. Charity shops are good however you can't be sure they sell what you want" 

It was sad but true. You follow the man around to the second floor of the district and you reach a large thrift shop filled from ceiling to floor with Halloween decor, and immediately you could see the coat section filled with fur coats that had obviously been worn by middle-aged women. 

"How would you wear it? You could take the sleeved and change your fingers to look more vicious and take the remainders of the fur and glue them to your face and body", you recommend, there's nothing werewolf-ish about a man wearing a coat. 

You watch Brian pick up a fur coat, "That's a good idea, I can always sew this, it won't be too hard", this man is also good at home economics, such as sewing, you're not even surprised anymore.

"that sounds good to me," you say, having a close look at the fabric, "I've always wanted to get knotted by a werewolf", obviously joking but your tone was serious.

Brian looked at you confused once again, "I'm going to Urban Dictionary this, too", Brian pulls out his phone, draping the fur coat over his other arm, brows furrowed as he typed, and his expression was continuously changing.

You bit your tongue hoping it wasn't going to be there, but chances are it would be.

"... This is speaking of canid... A knot is basically a swelling..." Brian's face continues to change from interested to disgusted and mortified, "erectile tissue swells up... penetrates the female... ", he locks eye contact with you, "how do you know about this stuff?" he questions you loudly.

"It's the internet, I swear I don't go out of my way searching for this crap!", you were getting too defensive but it was true, you didn't go out of your way to find this stuff, it would just appear.

"Of course, such a bad influence that place - I don't go on it much myself", Brian continues to browse the fur coats.

He was obviously joking around, but he was right; the internet is a pretty bad influence, especially to children such as Daisy who basically isn't even near adolescence yet. Though, she's smart. You can't imagine her getting into fights with people online or giving out personal information. To be fair there are people out there that give out way too much, such as people on Instagram. Which reminded you.

"Hey, Brian, could we take a photo?", you pull out your phone, setting it up to camera mode.

Brian twirls around, holding a darker version of the previous, "for what?" he questioned, "I'm not against it, but why?"

You hold the phone up in a selfie mode, directing it to you and Brian, "have you heard of Instagram? That's basically the whole gimmick of the thing - take photos and upload them! I want to show my followers what I'm up to", seeing the camera, Brian leans towards you and grins, teeth and all.

You snap the photo, and you both go to view it, "We're 10/10", Brian says, watching you add some minor filters to the photo, ready to upload it.

You access your Instagram account. Multiple photos from the span of a few years load, from before university and just now after. Photos of you, friends, food, drinks, random screen captures. Everything.

"Wow, so you just upload photos and people see them?", Brian looked amazed.

You scroll through your photos, showing off your 'amazing' life, "this is completely different than my art account, but I have a separate one for that, but that's basically how you do it. If people like you they can follow, like, send messages, all that stuff"

"So it's like Dadbook? But for photos?", Brian was definitely showing interest as he pulls out his phone, "I've always wanted to upload my photos somewhere, but I don't think my friends on Dadbook would appreciate constant uploads like that"

"So get it, it'll be great for you - just don't forget about me when you're famous", Brian laughs at your comment, typing it in on his phone and downloading the app.

"Could you send me that photo? I would like it to be the first one I upload", you then spend the next few minutes telling him how to hashtag, tag others, following, stories etc.

Brian was a master at this by the end of it, using hashtags such as #bearcommunity which of course would gain some traction from that community. He was all set for it.

"I'll have to have a play around with it later", Brian puts his phone away and goes back to the coat he still held onto, "I think I like this colour"

"Shouldn't you go for something more orangey to match your hair in general?", you didn't want to shatter his dreams but you knew you had to say something.

Brian froze, looking at the dark coloured faux fur coat in his arms and he slowly and gently puts it back. He looks a little upset, actually.

"You're right, (Y/N), I'll pick this one", Brian paces a few steps further away, picking up a coat that has almost the same colour and tint as his own - it matches perfectly!

"Not going to lie to you, Brian, but it's a perfect match", hearing you compliment him turns his cheeks red and he smiles giddily.

"Thank you, (Y/N)", Brian looks around the shop one last time, trying it on before bringing it to the till; it was a huge coat and was fairly expensive, but this would be his whole outfit sorted for tonight.

You make it out of the mall and apparently, Brian has been blowing up in popularity: 18 whole likes and a few followers! Most of them could be bots, but who cared? Brian was beaming.

It was almost the afternoon by the time you got back to Brian's place, and with that, you agreed to meet him back at his with your own costume, but the problem being, you didn't know what. Most of the costumes you owned would be immature for kids around to see, such as giant inflatable strap-on penises they would sell at Hen parties and stag do's. Your friends had bought them on your birthday and you spent the whole day swinging your hips and battling each other.

You thought long and hard, but you couldn't make up your mind. A slutty nun? A sexy nurse? A chicken? How about you just come as a ghost. Easy and affordable and only requires scissors, but would Brian be offended? This is one of his favourite holidays after all.

You message him on Dadbook.

"Hey Brian, I have no idea what to be for Halloween"

An immediate reply.

"Hey (Y/N)! Don't worry about that, if you still haven't figured out what to be by 7 pm, I can give you something to work with!"

The first time he hasn't signed off his message with his name; could you both be getting closer already?

7 pm rolls around and you're at his door, still in the same clothes. You'd have been doing research on your phone, sitting on your sofa for ages now, but nothing ever tickled your fancy. So you thought of what Brian would throw at you.

He threw flannel shirts, a belt, some shoes and some shorts. On top was a cheap red-haired beard strap. Was this... A Brian cosplay?

"Choose the design you like the most and we'll go with it - I prefer the green and white myself, though", you dig through the shirts you cradled in your arms and you spot the exact one Brian told you about and you pulled it out from the stack.

It was a pretty nice design, soft and smelled nice, too. You went to get changed in the bathroom, looking in the mirror as you changed, watching your own self you saw every day turn into a cheaper-store own brand of the brand called Brian. You weren't going to lie, you were feeling your oats. 

You step out of the bathroom and you gave your best Brian impersonation, so you decided to laugh, "Harr Harr, Hurr Hurr", Brian stares at you with a frozen smile, almost as if you were watching a Youtube video and paused halfway through someone laughing.

"Are you impersonating me?", your back floods with cold sweat, you begin to get nervous; after stuttering a yes, Brian laughs, "Aghaha, I love it! I know I can be pretty loud", it's nice he doesn't get offended very easily.

It dawns on you that you have no idea what you are doing tonight. You automatically thought you would be hanging around with Brian but if dressing up is the case maybe you're not? Is Brian hosting a party?

"Hey, Brian, what are we doing tonight?"

"I'm hosting a party with the Cul-de-sac, I want to introduce you to everyone", your face turns white, you're not ready for this, you've already gone weeks and even months without talking to many people at the Cul-de-sac - what would they think of you?

"I'm worried. I haven't talked to any of them since moving in, and I know how rude that is, especially when I've just been talking to you", Brian places his hand on your shoulder and you lock eye contact.

"I know, bud, but this will be good for you. I've talked to a few of the dads about you, all positive things, and they seem to like the sound of you; maybe you could do a speech before the party starts?", he's spoken positive things about you?

"An apology speech... Okay, I'll try that. Thank you, Brian", he shakes his head side to side.

"No, you haven't done anything in order for you to give out an apology; think of it as an introduction", you still felt as if you had to dish out an apology out on a golden platter for not introducing yourself properly.

As Brian is hosting this party maybe they think something is going on between the two of you? You really don't want the neighbours to think anything fishy is going on, but a part of you maybe kind of wants someone to bring it up so you could see Brian's reaction to this. 

Finally, Daisy showed up, running downstairs in her Red Riding Hood costume, with a large red cloak with a hood, red and black plaid shirt and black jeans, holding a wicker basket. Maxwell dances around her feet, making soft barks, almost as if he wanted to join in on the fun.

Daisy gazes down at the corgi, "I'm sorry, Maxwell, I know you used to enjoy this basket when you were a puppy, but you're too big for it now!", Maxwell continues to stare up at her, not registering what she was saying; everywhere she went, he followed.

Brian shortly disappeared, most likely to get his costume sorted out and ready. You spent the next few minutes sitting on their sette with Daisy as Maxwell tries ever so sneakily to climb into the basket. Half of his body was successful, however, the rest of it wasn't.

"So you haven't met anyone from the Cul-de-sac apart from my father and me?", Daisy gets straight to the point, it's almost as if the main reason why the party existed was that of it.

You sigh, "yeah, it's tragic, I know, I need to make a speech apologising to them"

Daisy cuts you off immediately, "don't think of it as an apology; think of it as an introduction", she really is Brian's daughter.

"What do I even say? I can't speak in front of a crowd of people I don't know - especially with kids around", you tilt your head back with a groan escaping your throat.

"Say something along the lines of 'I'm very happy to meet all of you, despite how long it has taken and I hope you all have a pleasant night', you know, the usual", you're confused if this is a job interview or a group meeting.

You think to yourself, registering the words Daisy had told you, "Okay, I'll try and come up with something", Daisy places her hand on your shoulder and making a fist with the other, shaking it around in an attempt to determinate you.

"You've got this, (Y/N), you know how much it'll mean to my father!", she's right, Brian would be over the moon for you becoming friends with everyone here.

Speaking of Brian, he came downstairs, showing off his half-transformation, and you had to be honest, seeing Brian with extra hair was hot. Especially with the growls, he made.

"Grrr... I will eat you! Ghahaha", Brian was slowly getting you into vore.

"Looking great, dad!", Daisy beamed, clapping as her father twirled around like a model.

After half an hour, guests started arriving, there was a blonde man dressed as a cult member, a brunette rough 'n' tough guy with what you prayed for was a fake machete and a Jason mask, and a man with a moustache and long hair dressed as a math teacher?

You decided to confront the man with the machete, maybe make some small talk.

"Hey! My name is (Y/N), I was wondering if that is a real machete?", you laugh nervously - nothing funnier than cracking a joke about the obvious.

"Yeah", he grunts.

Yes how funny.

"Oh! What kind is it?", you panic.

The man raises an eyebrow, "A machete? The kind Jason uses in Friday the 13th?", how odd, the small talk is working!

"Oh, right! How's the movie?", the man looks incredibly bored.

"Alright", he ends with a glare.

Abort small talk, abort!

"So... What's your name?", you start to play with your fingers, every now and then flicking your fingernails in anxiousness.

"Robert", you gulp, this guy seems like trouble.

"So... Brian... How...", As soon as you begin, Robert cuts you off.

Stepping towards you Robert stared at you dead in the eyes, "You can have Brian, just don't take his drinking evenings with me away; you wouldn't want to know what'll happen", is that a threat?

"Yeah, no! It's fine, I wouldn't dream of it!", of course, you wouldn't, you need your kidneys.

"Glad we had this 'small' talk", Robert gives you a fake ass grin and storms off.

What the fuck just happened?

You needed something to drink, you're too sober for this.

You head towards the kitchen to grab something to drink until you spotted the blonde with his cult leader getup until he spots you looking.

"You look intrigued if you must know, I'm going as a priest", he gives off a humble smile, though something seems a little off.

"...You look like a cult leader", the gown was very different but in some ways similar to a priest - it could be the makeup he's wearing as well, and the fact he's attempting to make it look scary.

"Yes. I get that a lot", out of nowhere his children come out from behind him, they look just as creepy, especially the twins, and you're not too fond of children.

"H-Hey there! Who're you two?", You place your hand on your knees and you kneel down to face them. 

"These two are Christian and Christie, say hello you two", in unison they both greet each other, it was kind of spooky, especially during Halloween - did they rehearse? 

"Did you both rehearse to speak together like that just for tonight? Wow!", you try your best to make conversation with them, but they simply glance at each other, then back up at their father, unamused.

The man gives a soft chuckle, "Okay you two, go off and play now! I'll speak to you soon, (Y/N)", you nod with a smile as he leaves.

You felt a tap on your shoulder, you turn around and it was the English teacher. Thankfully, he hands you a drink and you gulp it down,

"That was Joseph, just in case you were wondering," you place the cup on the side and you grab a shot glass, "My name is Hugo, it's a pleasure to meet...?", he ends his sentence, inviting you to finish it.

"(Y/N), it's nice to meet you, Hugo", you pour some vodka into the shot glass and you raise it, offering him to join, "thank you for the drink, by the way"

Hugo shakes his head, "it's no problem; thank you for the offer, but I don't drink on school nights"

"I really like your math teacher costume, are you a real math teacher?", you try to spark up another conversation.

"Oh... I was dressing up as a History teacher", why is everyone at this party so fucking insane, "but in reality, I am an English teacher, teaching middle and high school students", he must have a lot of patience.

"Wow, you must be incredibly intelligent!", butter him up nice and good, at least have this man leave a good review of you to Brian.

"Oh, no, I'm just a regular human being, I only went to university to become a teacher, but everyone is smart in their own unique ways, as I am sure you have your qualities which I cannot compete with", wow, that was so deep Adele could roll in it.

"That... Was actually very lifting. Thank you", you had to let this man know that you appreciate the comment

"It's no problem; I'm sorry to end this conversation so short, I have to go greet everyone, but we must catch up soon, (Y/N)", he remembered your name; that's what you get for conversing with a teacher, "It was nice meeting you", he pats your shoulder and disappears into a group of people.

You stand there, taking a few shots until you see Brian charge towards you. 

"Hey, buddy, you ready for your speech?", he wraps his arms around you, bringing you into a tight side embrace.

"I-Uh, not really, but I suppose I could wing it!", Brian rubs your shoulders thoroughly, trying to psyche you up.

"I know you can do this, bud! ", he guides you into the centre of the living room - you're suddenly surrounded by a group of people chatting in many different social cliques.

Brian disappears and shortly returns with a glass. He hands it to you and yells to get everyone's attention. The chattering quickly quietens down and everyone pays attention to you as if you were the one to interrupt their pleasant natter.

"My buddy here would like to say a few words!", he pats your back, giving you the go-ahead.

You remember Brian and Daisy saying to not make it an apology, but that's all you could think about - being put on the spot like this, with a few drinks in your system, you felt vulnerable.

"I just want to say a few things", you look at Brian and Daisy, and they put their thumbs up in support, "I... Want to apologise for not introducing myself sooner, but I don't want to turn this into an apology speech. Instead, I want to tell you about me. My name is (Y/N), I finished university and recently moved in a few months ago. I was lonely and vulnerable being in a place all by myself, but all thanks to Brian for sending me a message to check up on me to see if I was alright - if it wasn't for Brian I would still be in my home, still afraid to come outside", you hear somebody whistle from the crowd and you bite your lower lip, "I want to thank you, Brian"

Brian turns red and scratches his beard, not sure how to process this turn of event.

People in the crowd raise their glasses and an odd cheer and whistle audibly made an appearance. You raise your glass as well as you turn to Brian.

"Cheers!", you shout, and everyone in the room shouted back.

You down your drink, and it tasted like champagne. Of course, it would be, during a celebration like this, you'd be surprised if Brian didn't bring out the expensive stuff. You charge back over to him, and you glomp onto his shoulders, obviously tipsy from not eating anything today, you sloppily grin at him.

Brian laughs at you, waiting for you to remove yourself from his personal bubble, but you didn't budge, "Thank you so much, Brian, this means so much to me", you couldn't hold yourself back, your feelings just escaped. 

You kissed Brian on the cheek. His beard was soft but it still tickled your nose and lips. You felt the heat radiate from his blushing cheeks prior to this action you took, and it felt nice. You were able to express yourself in some sort of way. 

You pulled away and you look at him. He grins and ruffles your hair, giving a soft chuckle.

"You're fine, bud, don't be silly", he glides his hand down your cheek, rubbing your cheekbone with his thumb gently; as he catches himself, he removes his hand, unlike you, taking control of his actions.

The rest of the night was excessive drinking. Drinking games between adults and a garden for the children to play in. Party games everyone got involved in with lots of sweets and chocolate. You faintly remember playing a game with Brian which involved you both holding a Pocky or Mikado stick in your mouth and having to eat the stick together and ending it with a kiss; however, you couldn't remember how it ended. Whether you chickened out or went through with it, but you knew Brian didn't care all that much.

You get home, tired, but still buzzed from today. You had so much fun, so much sweet shit and so much alcohol.

You get into your bedroom to strip and get ready to sleep peacefully until the morning until you looked at your computer screen and realised it was still on. You remember you were going to add subtle changes before your coffee, but then Brian interrupted you, which you were fine with.

You stare at it, trying to rack your brain. But you couldn't think. You forgot what you were going to change.


	15. Bear Party!

It was a crisp cold morning when you woke up. It was mid-November, and obviously, it had gotten a lot colder, which had stopped you from getting out of bed on time even though you had gotten into a bad habit of waking up early. You continued to stare up at the ceiling whilst you were snuggled up, acting as if you were the filling of a burrito - warm and still.

You would mumble and complain about how cold it was, despite whether you liked it or not; it was nice not sweating your taint off, and all you had to do was put on more clothes during winter. Summer had gotten to a point where there was a limit to what you could take off before it was illegal.

Just like any morning, your phone buzzed. It was from Brian. Shocker! However, once you read what he had to say, it obviously wasn't Brian - it must've been Daisy trying to get in contact with you.

"Hey, (Y/N)! It's me, Daisy! I was hoping you could come round today we are hosting a party called 'Have a party with your bear day', a lot of the kids around the neighbourhood will be here along with some of the dads!"

Isn't it a Friday? Why aren't they in school?

You continue to read.

"We'll be hosting this event just after school, so I hope you're able to make it! The only rule of the party is to bring a bear! And have fun obviously!

Hope to see you there!

-Daisy"

She takes the sign off after her father, you're sure of it.

You could only imagine during this time Brian was driving her to school as she wrote this and tell her whether you could make it or not when picking her up, so of course he'd give her permission to write this; but did she want you to go? Did Brian make her? Did she feel bad leaving you out?

Whether or not she wants you there, it was a sweet gesture. You just have to interact with the kids; let's hope they're all smart just like Daisy.

All you need to take over is a bear... But you don't have one. You could always go to the charity shops and get one, or go to the shops and get a huge Christmas bear that normally sells around this time. Or you could just ask to borrow one of Daisy's - or who knows, Brian might have one.

You feel as if you want to see Brian and hang out until the kids come over, but because it's a weekday, chances are he is at work. Though, chances are he had today off because it could be classed as a holiday.

You get ready within 15 minutes and you're out the door. Brian's driveway has his car parked, but he could have always taken the bus as well. You ring the doorbell and you wait.

Nothing.

Oh, wait.

You can hear his heavy footsteps coming for the door.

He opens the door, and he looks pleasantly surprised to see you.

"Oh! (Y/N), I suppose you received Daisy's message?", Brian smiles, then his face drops a little confused, "You do know the party doesn't start until around 3 pm, right?"

"I do, yes, I was just wondering if you were about in case you wanted some company - you're not working today?", Brian gives a chuckle and welcomes you in.

"Oh, no, I booked today off work", you follow Brian into the kitchen, it almost as if he looks like he's getting ready to bake.

"I guess you knew of this holiday? I didn't know it existed", you group around the small island full of baking goods.

"Have a party with your bear day is one of my favourite holidays! It's so charming", he smiles at you. 

Of course, it's his favourite.

"By chance, do you have a bear I could borrow or one of Daisy's? I don't have one", Brian perked his head up in surprise.

Brian slowly shows a toothy grin, as well as cheeky, "I thought I was your bear, could you not have a party with me?", it hit you, all this time you've been calling him a bear, yet you didn't think of this.

"Yes! I didn't think of that! Would you be my bear for this party?", hearing those words flustered Brian, but of course, he was used to your antics by now.

"Heh... That's your issue sorted out", he giggles, scratching the back of his head, "Hey, since you're here, would you mind helping me bake? I am aware I'm a good cook, but baking is something I'm not very used to", which is odd, as with baking you stick to the ingredients and you have to measure everything out in precise detail; you'd picture cooking to be a lot more complicated.

However, you didn't mind helping out, "Of course! What cake did you plan on making?", with a flip of a book on the side of the counter, Brian presents the beast.

"Chocolate ganache; I'm thinking two layers, but I don't know if I'm overdoing it", he chuckles bashfully, stroking his beard, you approve of this.

"Shouldn't be too hard if we stick to the instructions and have the right ingredients", you take the recipe book to examine it further, "even has instructions on how to make the ganache, how wonderful", Brian responds with a held back chuckle.

"I spent the last few days gathering everything together, I didn't think some of the ingredients would be so specific", then again, with a cake it has to be specific, measurements, ingredients, baking time - everything.

"Impressive! Do you think we have everything we need?", Brian browses his cupboards and pulls out plastic bags filled to the brim with baking supplies - it seems he even treated himself to some cake tins.

"I even bought new cake tins for this occasion to make the perfect cake!", you nailed your speculation.

"When did you plan on making the cake? It'll take some time for it to cool down before we add the ganache and then that has to set...", you study the recipe one last time, the approximate time for it to prepare, time for it to cook for, etc.

"I was thinking soon - possibly now. Worst case scenario we put it in this", Brian opens up what you assume would be a baking cabinet and he pulls out a cake stand, glass cover and everything - did he buy this especially for this occasion as well? "it'll look great in the side of the island", Brian had a knack for interior design.

You browsed the bag, taking necessities out; caster sugar, flour, cocoa powder, you'd think Brian would have these already in his cupboards but doesn't hurt to add to them in case you run out. Brian investigates the fridge, taking out the butter, chocolate bars... Eggs?

Bewildered but interested, you question him, "you refrigerate eggs?"

Brian lines up all the ingredients, reaching under the island to take all the Tupperware for the weighing scales, "doesn't everybody?", not everyone, however, it was still pretty common - you didn't really care, it was an interesting quirk to know about him.

It took a few minutes to weight everything and turn on the oven to heat up, but you were able to create a batter. A lovely and thick chocolate cake batter by melting chocolate and butter together and combining it together with the dry cooking supplies, alongside with eggs and buttermilk. You pour them evenly into the new cake tins - it was mesmerising. 

Brian slid the cake tins into the oven, softly closing the doors to a click and returned back to his space, hand under gut, rubbing it out of habit, "here, you may lick the spoon," he picks up the spatula covered with leftover batter and taps your nose gently with the end, leaving a dollop on the end, "go crazy" he chuckles, offering the handle.

You received the handle! You were now in control. It's time for revenge. You try and bap him back with it, but for a man this sturdy he was surprisingly agile.

You would scream, "let me bap you!", and Brian would shout in reply, "never!"

In an attempt to dodge, Brian took a misstep, letting you make your move and slapping him on the face with the dirty utensil. His lips, moustache and the underside of his nose were covered in traces of batter. He let out a hearty laugh in amusement.

He ran a finger gently over his moustache and looking at the gunk on his finger, "you got me, bud!" he voiced dramatically.

You stick your tongue out at him, stepping closer as your sentence is muffled "I'm gonna lick it!", in an attempt to startle him.

Brian jolts back, laughing as he tries to avoid your smaller frame from attacking him, "No, no, no!" he rumbles in a panic.

This man thinks you're joking, but you're dead set on licking that batter off his lips. But you stop out of respect, playing it off as a joke. 

You retrace your steps back to your previous spot, wanting to get ready to create a ganache, "How long do you think the cake will be?", upon the study of the magazine it had said 1 hour and 30 minutes, "that long, huh?"

Brian gracefully moves up from behind you to witness the magazine for himself, "an hour an a half? That'll be enough time to make a ganache, surely", he reaches his hand around you to pull the magazine closer, his body pressed against your back a little until it separated again.

His hand nudged against yours, resting it in place as he reads on how to make the ganache - he most likely thought you were doing the same, however, your mind went blank. All you could think of is the situation you're in. You can feel the air flow through his nostrils on your neck as he breathed. His body was warm, but you felt it was getting warmer from the tension, but that was you.

He spoke, pressing against you a bit more, completely unaware of what he was doing - almost like a teacher looming over a student to check their work, "okay... 200 grams of dark chocolate... Chopped..." his voice so close to your ears made you sweat, "300 millilitres of double cream and melt in a pan... 2 tablespoons of caster sugar... Then pour that over the chocolate and combine by mixing"

His voice made it sound so erotic, even if he was talking under his breath. It drove you crazy.

"You okay, bud? You feel a little hot", you look up at him and he's already locking eye contact - he wasn't even being sarcastic, he was just concerned, "are you ill? You don't have to do this 'party with your bear' thing if you don't feel up for it"

"No, no, I am completely fine, don't worry about it, Brian!" you choked your words out, despite your heart being in your throat, thumping from this man being inches from your face, "- I want to party with my bear" you nervously chuckle.

Brian's eyebrows raise in shock, then his face softens to a smile - you want him to nuzzle your face with his nose and beard.

"As long as you're okay, bud, let's get to it", he separated from you, gently slapping your hip with one hand and holding onto your shoulder on the opposite side with the other.

Brian brings out the previous chopping board he had used for the chocolate and starts to weight chunks. You take a seat, just to watch a man at work.

Brian would whisper to himself, making sure everything was right, 'yeah this piece', 'let's make his smaller', inhaling deeply like a middle-aged man would mid-sentence.

You start to think of something - you have an hour and a bit to kill, so you thought you'd bring it up, "hey, Brian, do you have an Apron?"

Brian stopped what he was doing and looked over in your direction, "an Apron? Yeah, sure I have one, why's that, bud?"

"I just want to see you wear one, that's all", Brian lowered an eyebrow, questionable, but shrugs it off.

"Okay, sure!", he sets down the utensils and chocolate, dusting his hands off one another whilst walking to a door on the other side of the room.

He opens it, and it turned out it was a little room full of chef and cook stuff. On the door hung three aprons, a green one which looks as if it had a lily print, a pink and burgundy stripe, and the third was pure black.

At this point with the shirts he'd be wearing, you were a little over with the green, and black was fairly bland - you wanted to see the horizontal stripes going over the curves of his body, "the stripes! That'll look dashing on you!"

Brian softly chuckles, pulling it out and closing the door. Tying the Apron up and around him as he steps back towards his chopping board.

It looked like a tight fit, and as he hunches over to chop the chocolate, his chest would create wrinkles around the top of his belly, which held and tightened the lower parts around him. You had to take a seat. He glances at you from the corner of his eye, and smiles, obviously taking notice of you watching him.

"I hope to have a husbear someday that would wear aprons and bake on the weekends - aprons look cute on men", Brian chuckles as a response in acknowledgement.

"Well, I hope you find one soon, bud", your heart thumps again; you want it so desperately to be Brian.

Before you knew it, Brian had finished cutting up the chocolate and measuring everything else in the pan ready for it to be cooked. He turned around to the hob again, placing the pan on a medium heat and stirring it around with a whisk.

Now that you think about it, this has been Brian's cake, you had no part - you maybe helped weigh and measure, however you didn't physically do any mixing or stirring. You may have contributed but not physically make.

Brian returned to the island, pouring the mixture over the chocolate and stirring it in. You just gazed at him, fascinated. He was so gentle.

He covered the bowl with a tea towel and placed it to the side of the kitchen, "right, now we just need to let it cool down, how long do you think we have left for the cake?"

Luckily you put a stopwatch on your phone, "it's about an hour", you tapped the area above your lips - Brian tilted his head in sheer confusion, rubbing his moustache where the batter remained.

"I thought I cleaned that off!" he lunges for a paper towel dampen and wipes, "you should check yourself, too, buddy", he points towards his nose.

There was still batter there?

You rub your nose until Brian throws a wet paper towel in your direction. It squelched as it lands on the island countertop, the noise was disgusting, but hilarious to which caused a reaction from both you and Brian which caused you two to erupt in laughter.

You both remained in the kitchen, drinking tea and coffee, trying to keep each other awake due to the early rise and activities you had encountered this morning. Your phone's alarm went off, signalling the final form of Brian's-and-not-yours chocolate and-not-yet-ganache cake.

You both looked at each other giving a nod, rushing to the oven, you both pulled out the cake - well, Brian did, you just watched. The two of you got a steel rack out to flip the cake onto to let it cool down before spreading on the ganache; again, you just watched whilst Brian did all of the hard work, you filled the sink up with warm water and soap for Brian to soak the cake tins in. 

After a few minutes, you both look at the cakes. They looked moist, delicate and above all else, fucking delicious - not to mention huge.

"It's 12:45 right now, give it an hour and it'll be cool and then we can apply the ganache and put it in the fridge to chill, and then I can pick up Daisy", Brian announces his plan, which was obviously foolproof.

Waiting for the cakes to cool felt as if it took hours. Despite being in great company, when waiting for something together, time went twice as slow, which you both didn't appreciate, however, Brian still put twice as much elbow grease into applying the ganache, it was almost pro, even if he was a chef and not a baker. 

"Hey, bud, would you like to do the curls of chocolate?", he looks over to you, still smoothing out the chocolate paste.

"Yeah, of course! I've never made it before, though! How do I do it?", you almost wish that Brian would stand behind and move your hands for you.

"I've put a baking tray in the fridge before you came over, it should be cold by now. Pour melted chocolate and spread it all over until it becomes matte and thick - I even bought a scraper for this especially, so you may be the first person to use it", this sounded easy, yet complicated if this were your first time, but you weren't going to let this man down!

You decided to investigate for a pan whilst Brian turned on the kettle. You set the pan on the side and went for a search for a bowl big enough to sit in the pan. You set the pan on the heater and you turned it on a low heat, pouring the boiling hot kettle water into the pan and placing the plate on top ready to gently melt the chocolate.

You felt a tap on your shoulder, you turn around and it was Brian holding a few bars of chocolate, "you almost forgot these, didn't you, buddy?", he grins.

"I could never lie to you", you laugh in response.

You bang and break the chocolate on the side of the countertop before you opened the packaging. Letting it all release into the delicious, liquidly death it awaits. You felt something odd prod your bottom, and once again, it was Brian with a flexible spatula. You nod with a grin and you spent the next few minutes stirring, leaving a few chunks leftover for the melted chocolate cool down faster.

Soon, you then apply it onto the back of the baking tray Brian had set in his big fridge. You spread it continuously until the glossiness of the chocolate had turned matte, just as Brian told you. It was cold enough to form but warm enough to still mould, and so you got to work. You made many different types of curls and cigarette shapes, Brian was very impressed.

Brian took a small curl and ate it, "delicious, buddy", he cups the lower part of your back in praise.

That made you feel warm and fuzzy.

You lifted the tray, ready to sprinkle it over the ganache Brian had prepared beautifully; all ready and waiting for the final touches. You glide them on gently, rolling from the back of the tray and onto the cake. It looked stunning, and you couldn't believe it was all homemade.

"Brian,", you speak, still staring at the cake in its glory, "you're amazing, you're such a good baker"

You could see Brian shake his head in the corner of your eye, "it's part of your help, too, (Y/N), don't forget that"

You automatically take your phone out and you take a photo of this masterpiece, hoping to make the world jealous.

Brian gently placed the cake into the fridge, "we can take the cake out once I get home from picking Daisy up, however, if you wanted to take it out, I'll leave the cake stand on the side for you, okay, bud?"

"That's fine with me, I'll see what happens!", Brian had placed the cake stand on the counter closest to the fridge.

You spent the next hour cleaning up the house; you were eventually greeted by Maxwell who decided to join in on the party which involved you and Brian. You both cleaned the kitchen; Brian hoovered a little whilst you dusted parts of the lounge.

Suddenly, it was 3:00 pm, "I'm off to pick up Daisy now, okay, bud? Would it be okay if you set out some snacks? You'll find some in the cabinet in the kitchen, and some glass dishes where the plates would be - if you can't find anything, don't worry", you try and urge him out the door.

"It's fine! I'll be fine! I'll be this sorted by the time you get back, don't worry!", you shut the door. 

It's time.

You were ecstatic. You searched the cabinet and you found pretzels, peanuts, cheese balls, all sorts! You went to search some glass dishes, as well, and you prepared the snacks on the coffee table in the lounge. You searched the fridge and you took out some cola and iced tea; Brian may not have told you to take them out, however, you doubt he would mind - you could always pay him back.

Now it's time for the monster. You head towards the fridge to take out the cake. It was heavier than expected, but you managed to put it onto the countertop next to the cake stand; you just had to put it in. Once you got the cake inside, it looked super stylish and you were chuffed. You just had to bring it back to the island. Sadly the moment you picked it up, this was a point where Maxwell felt would be a good time to get your attention and try and play. 

The cake along with the glass made it twice as heavy as it should be, but you were determined. Trying your best to shoo Maxwell away and it worked. You were inches away from the countertop until you heard a noise and something falling onto your foot.

You look down immediately out of pain; it was the bottom of the cake stand. You must've knocked it into the countertop by not lifting it high enough. Suddenly, the lid and cake fell from the angle of which you were holding the remainder of the stand. Shattering and squelching onto the floor, the cake was ruined. 

You felt your heart die. You were livid, upset, and nauseated from this ordeal. You felt like you could cry. Your body went tight. You just stared down at it, confused on what to do. 

The front door opened.

The first voice you heard was Daisy, "(Y/N)! Apparently, you and dad baked a cake! I can't wait to see what it looks like!", you turn your head in the direction. 

The shock displayed on your face when there was a group of people behind them, all children from Daisy's school and the dads from the neighbourhood. You were getting anxious. Will they laugh? Will Brian be humiliated? All that hard work he put into that desert.

They all stepped in, circling you and letting out gasps, "Oh, no, what happened?", "Are you okay?" was all you could hear, but the moment you looked at Brian, he looked heartbroken.

Your throat was tight, it held words back but all you wanted to do was to apologise. 

"I-I... I'm so sorry... I-I don't know what happened", your voice squeaked, this was the last thing you wanted to happen.

Brian had enough. He tapped your shoulder and brought you to your feet, taking you into the bathroom in the next room, and closing the door behind him. You were worried you were going to be in trouble.

"(Y/N), what happened? Are you hurt?", straight to the point, Brian looks at you, without breaking eye contact.

However, you were shifty with your eye movements, wanting to avoid his gaze out of guilt, "I don't know... It was all going so well, I just wanted... To present the cake on the island...", you were replaying the scene over and over in your head, wondering how you could've prevented it, why it had to happen, etc, "I thought it would look so nice on the corner... Brian, I am so sorry..." your face twisted as you broke down, completely hiding your face by looking down at the floor so Brian wouldn't have to see you.

However, Brian grasped hold of your face, pulling it up gently, slowly and calmly. His eyes were so kind. You couldn't help but sob as tears rolled down your face.

"(Y/N), it was an accident, right?", Brian asked you nodded, "then you have no reason to apologise. I can imagine how stressful this must be, but this isn't your fault; I wasn't the only one working hard on it, it was you as well", he embraced you, rubbing your back in comfort.

You felt as if you were a child at this moment, awaiting a punishment or some sort of discipline, however, Brian comforted you until you calmed down.

You breathed heavily, trying to catch up with your breath, tightening your grip on his clothes. You hated having to cry in front of the man you loved, but it was a good way to show your vulnerability, and it was a way to show you trusted him.

"Don't worry, your bear isn't angry at you, I'm just glad you're okay", he whispered into your ear, giving you a peck on the side of the head.

Not only were you upset and distraught, but humiliated that everyone had to see you like this and knew exactly what had happened, but in an instant, Brian had all that worry melt away with a single embrace. 

He lets go of you, cupping your face into his hands again, gazing into your eyes, "everyone is really nice, I swear, (Y/N)", he gives you another quick embrace before giving you the opportunity to leave.

Before you exit, you spoke, "thank you, Brian, it means so much to me that you care for me like this", you feel his hand cup the bottom of you back again, and you exit the bathroom.

Your eyes were red, you definitely looked as if you had been crying, but the moment you reached the living room, everyone was having a great time. The dads were talking to each other and the kids were playing with their bears. 

Before you rejoined the party, you took a minute in the kitchen mentally preparing yourself. You realised they had cleaned up the cake and broken glass from the floor. You checked the bin and you couldn't help but cackle; you no longer felt bad for this. You were surrounded by good company.

You took a photo of the monstrosity in the bin, ready to post a before and after picture on your Twitter, hoping it would become a trend of some kind.


End file.
